-■  :j 


Please 

handle  this  volume 

with  care. 


3  9153  00055548  4 


FALL  RIVER, 


AN 


AUTHENTIC   NARRATIVE 


BY  THE  AUTHOR  Ot 


« TALES,  NATIONAL,  REVOLUTIONARY,"  kc.  itc 


*'  Oh  for  a  Lodge  in  some  vast  wilJeincss, 
Some  boundless  conliguity  of  shade, 
Where  rumour  of  oppression  and  deceit 
Can  never  reach  me  more. 
Mv  soul  is  sick  wilh  every  day's  report 
of  the  world's  baseness.'*^   . 


SOLD  BY 

LILLY,  WAIT  &  CO.  BOSTOxN  :  MARSHALL; 

BROWN  &  CO.  PROVIDENCE. 

1833. 


r 


Entered  according  to  tlie  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1833,  in- 
the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Coiu-t  of  the  United  States, 
within  and  for  the  Rhode-Igland  District, 


Cranston  &  Hammond,  Printers,  Providence. 


PREFACE. 

\i  is  with  feelings  of  cmbanassmeut  never  felt  on  any  former  oc- 
casion, that  the  v.riter  of  this  little  volume  lays  it  before  the  public. 
The  tale  which  forms  the  principal  part  of  its  contents  has  been 
hitherto  treated  in  such  an  indecent  manner,  that  this,  of  itself, 
was  nearly  sufficient  to  terrify  any  one  at  the  undertaking  ;  and  it 
was  not  until  after  long  and  reiterated  persuasion,  that  the  author 
was  induced  to  attempt  it.  Who  first  proposed  it,  is  of  no  conse- 
quence :  it  is  sufficient  that  a  very  great  part  oftiie  subscribers 
and  patrons  of  former  works  have  seconded  the  request  ;  and  if  the 
volmne  answers  no  other  purpose  except  proving  the  wish  to  oblige, 
it  will  certainly  answer  an  important  one.  But  we  confidently 
hope  it  may  answer  other  and  more  useful  ones. 

The  History  of  Fall  River,  a  place  which  is  becoming  of  so  much 
importance  in  the  manufacturing  world,  cannot  but  be  acceptable 
to  the  public.  The  anecdotes  connected  with  its  revolutionary 
history  are  worthy  to  be  preserved.  And  a  fair  and  candid  state- 
ment of  facts,  connected  with  the  late  unhappy  affair  in  that  quarter, 
is  desirable.  As  to  the  trial,  it  does  not  treat  of  things  in  their  pro- 
per order,  nor  cannot:  and  in  the  next  place,  none  but  what  is  call- 
ed legal  evidence  is  admissible;  and  lastly — and  its  greatest  objec- 
tion— it  is  not  fit  for  any  body  to  read.  A  narrative,  therefore, 
that  would  embrace  the  facts,  without  any  of  the  odious  details  in 
the  trial,  is  highly  necessary,  if  public  curiosity  on  the  subject  is 
lawful  :  and  who  shall  say  that  it  is  not  1 

There  is  another  way  too,  in  which  it  is  hoped  and  presumed 
this  work  may  prove  useful : — as  a  salutary  and  timely  warning 
to  young  women  in  the  same  situation  in  life,  in  which  the  ill  fa- 
ted girl  was  placed,  who  is  the  subject  of  this  narrative.  On 
many  accounts  it  may  benefit.  That  baneful  disposition  to  rove, 
to  keep  moving  from  place  to  place,  which  has  been  the  ruin  of  so 
many,  will  here  receive  a  check.  And  what  is  more  important 
ptill — though  an  extremely  difficult  subject  to  treat  upon  so  as  to 
A^      ■ 


4  PREFACE. 

be  understood — they  will  be  warned,  by  the  fate  of  one,  against 
tliat  idolatrous  regard  for  ministers,  for  preachers  of  tlie  gospel, 
which  at  the  present  day  is  a  scandal  to  the  cause  of  Christianity  ; 
which  neither  honors  God  or  benefits  his  church  ;  and  certainly 
is  calculated  to  bring  reproach  and  ridicule  on  the  christian  char- 
acter. To  venerate  the  ambassador  of  the  Most  High,  and  listen 
to  him  witli  respect,  while  in  the  sacred  discharge  of  his  ministe- 
rial duties,  is  right  and  proper  ;  to  contribute  to  liis  relief  in  sick- 
ness and  support  ia  health,  of  om-  alxindance,  or  our  personal  ex- 
ertion, if  necessaiy,  is  likewise  om-  duty  ;  but  here  let  us  stop, 
and  not  make  ourselves,  and  the  cause  we  profess  to  be  engaged  in, 
ridiculous,  by  such  attentions  as  mortal  man  ought  never  to  re- 
ceive. 

The  absurd  custom  of  crowding  round  some  handsome  preacher 
on  every  oocasion,  in  order  to  share  his  smiles,  and  be  distin- 
guished by  his  gracious  gallantries,  has  justly  excited  the  ridi- 
cule of  a  large  part  of  the  community,  and  armed  every  scoffer 
with  Aveapons  against  that  holy  cause,  which  ought  not  to  suffer 
from  tlie  faults  of  its  ignorant  professors,  but  whicli  they  neverthe- 
less confound  together.  Besides,  ministers  are  mortal  men;  and, 
with  good  intentions,  sometimes  persons  of  weak  minds:  and  it  re- 
quires a  very  strong  mind  to  resist  continual  flattery.  Some  of 
them  too  are  ignorant  persons ;  people,  who,  if  they  had  their 
proper  places  in  society,  would  be  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers 
of  water,  rather  than  teachers.  This  description  of  false  teachers 
is  very  plainly  set  forth  in  the  Scriptures,  as  being  "  ever  learning, 
and  never  able  to  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth ; "  as  "  creep- 
ing into  houses,  and  leading  captive  silly  women,  "  &c.  &c.  This 
last  description  of  preachers  take  care  to  insinuate  themselves  into 
every  place  where  they  can  possibly  find  entrance.  No  matter 
what  the  religious  privileges  ofthe  people  may  be,  they  go  among; 
unless  they  themselves  have  built  up  a  sect  among  them,  they  con- 
sider them  as  destitute  of  truth  and  the  means  of  grace.  If  a 
neighborhood  is  furnished  with  ever  so  many  good,  res|)ectable, 
competent  teachers,  supported  by  those  who  are  able  to  do  it,  there 
must  be  one  more  added,  if  there  is  no  other  w^ay  to  support  him 
but  out  of  the  hard  earnings  ofthe  poor.     Now  the  fact  is,  that  a 


lEF 


PREFACE.  b 

preacher,  who  cannot  be  supported  without  drawing  upon  the 
charity  of  poor  factory  girls,  ought  to  go  in  and  go  to  work  him- 
self. 

It  will  be  seen  too  after  peru?ii)g  the  historj^  of  this  unfortunate 
girl,  whether  a  course  of  spiritual  dissipation  is  favorable  to  the 
growth  of  religion  in  the  soul;  v/hether  a  continual  round  of  go- 
ing to  meetings  night  and  day,  is  in  reality  recommending  the 
cause,  or  likely  to  recommend  the  character,  or  preserve  tlie  cha- 
racters of  young  women,  in  an  especial  manner.  It  is  much  to  be 
feared  it  is  otherv.ise.  In  the  first  place,  this  appearance  of  supe- 
rior devotedness,  this  over  xeal,  fails  in  no  instance  to  draw  all 
eyes  upon  her.  There  is  rival-hip  in  churches  it  is  known,  as 
well  as  in  other  communities,  and  such  members  are  watched  with 
jealous  regard ;  if  they  go  and  return  protected  as  they  ought  to 
be  by  one  of  the  (tther  sex,  barbarous  insinuations  will  sometimes 
be  made;  if  on  tlie  contrary  tliey  wander  about  from  meeting  to 
meeting  alone,  they  are  immediately  censured.  And  added  to 
this  it  is  expected  that  the  general  deportment  of  such  females 
should  difier  from  that  of  others;  that  it  should  presentan  appear- 
ance of  stiffness  and  restraint  incompatible  with  youth,  with  cheer- 
fulness, and  a  social  temper ;  hence  the  slightest  deviation  from 
the  prescribed  forms  is  censured  in  such  persons  as  a  crime ;  what 
would  pass  in  others  without  remark,  is  the  subject  of  unqualified 
abuse  in  these,  and  induces  a  species  of  persecution,  that  too  often 
results  in  loss  of  cliaractei*  to  the  victim. 

And  is  this  counterbalanced  by  any  inward  advantage!  Does  re- 
ligion thrive  most  in  noise  aid  tumult'?  Does  the  heart  become 
better,  the  imagination  purer,  the  temper  more  placid?  can.  that 
God,  who  is  worshipped  only  in  spirit  and  in  truth,  be  only  hon- 
ored in  a  crowd!  Let  eveiy  heart  decide  the  question. 

With  respect  to  embellishment  in  this  book,  no  person  acquaint- 
ed with  the  facts,  who  has  seen  it,  pretends  to  say  there  is  any, 
except  in  the  first  interview  between  the  physician  and  the  unfor- 
tunate heroine  of  the  tale ;  where  it  is  said  the  phraseology  is  im- 
proved without  altering  the  facts.  If  the  error  is  on  tlie  side  of 
delicacy  we  hope  to  be  pardoned. 

a3 


FALL  RIVER, 

AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE. 

CHAPTER  I. 

Situated  on  a  rather  abrupt  elevation  of  land 
rising  from  the  northeast  side  of  Mount  Hope  bay, 
distant  about  eighteen  miles  from  Newport,  and 
nine  from  Bristol,  R.  I.  stands  the  beautiful  and 
flourishing  village  of  Fall  River,  so  called  from  the 
river,  which,  taking  its  rise  about  four  miles  east, 
runs  through  the  place,  and  after  many  a  fantastic 
turn,  is  hurried  to  the  bay  over  beds  of  rocks,  where, 
before  the  scene  was  marred  by  the  hand  of  cultiva- 
tion and  improvement,  it  formed  several  beautiful 
cascades  and  had  a  fine  and  imposing  effect.  The 
village  is  now  only  picturesque  from  the  variety  of 
delightful  landscape  by  which  it  is  surrounded, 
the  back  ground  presenting  a  variety  in  rural  scene- 
ry— where  neat  farms  and  fertile  fields  shew  them- 
selves here  and  there,  between  hill  and  dale  and  rock 
and  wood.  The  soil,  though  for  the  most  part 
fertile,  is  in  some  places  exceedingly  rocky,  and 
often  in  the  midst  of  such  places  some  little  verdant 
spot  shews  itself,  looking,  as  Cunningham  says,  "as 
though  it  were  wrested  from  the  hand  of  nature. " 

But  Fall  River  is  chiefly  inviting  as  a  place  of 
residence  from  the  salubrity  of  its  air,  and  the  vicin- 
ity of  Mount  Hope  bay,  which  spreads  before  it  like 
a  mirror,  and  extends  easterly  until  it  meets  the 
a4 


8  FALL  mvEn, 

waters  of  Taunton  river,  forming  on  each  side  na- 
merous  little  creeks  and  coves,  which  add  to  the 
charms  of  the  landscape  materially ;  while  on  the 
southwest  it  takes  a  bold  sweep,  and  passing  romid 
through  Rowland's  ferr)^,  where  it  is  compressed 
through  the  narrow  channel  of  a  drawbridge,  having 
the  island  of  Rhode-Island  on  one  hand  and  the 
town  of  Tiverton  on  the  other,  again  expands  and 
flows  on  to  meet  the  ocean.     Howland's  ferry  is  not 
visible  from  the  village  of  Fall  River,  though  it  is 
from  the  bay  when  at  the  distance  of  three  or  four 
miles.  Vessels  do  sometimes  pass  and  repass  through 
the  drawbridge  at  Howland's  ferry  to  and  from  Fall 
River  and  Taunton ;  but  the  most  usual  way  of  ac- 
cess  to  the  former  is  through   Bristol  ferry,   two 
miles  south  of  Bristol  port.     It  requires  no  great  ef- 
fort of  im.agination  to  go  back  a  few  years,  and  im- 
agine the  Indian  with  his  light  canoe  sailing  about 
in  these  waters,  or  dodging  about  among  the  rocks 
and  trees.     The  neighborhood  of  Fall  River  has 
been  the  scene  of  frequent  skirmishes  among  the 
Picknets,  the  tribe  of  King  Philip,  and  the  Pequods 
and  Narragansetts.     Uncas  too,  with  the  last  of  the 
Mohicans  and  the  best,  has  set  his  princely  foot  up- 
on its  strand. 

Fall  River,  which  in  1812  contained  less  than 
one  hundred  inhabitants,  owes  its  growth  and  im- 
portance principally,  indeed  almost  wholly,  to  its 
manufacturing  establishments;  which,  though  not 
splendid  in  appearance,  are  very  numerous  and  em- 
ploy several  thousand  persons  collected  from  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  country,  as  well  as  many  foreigners : 
the  immense  fall  of  water  here  being  now  nearly 
covered  by  establishments  of  various  kinds. 

There  are  at  least  forty  thousand  spindles  in  op- 


AN  AUTIIEISTIC   NARRATIVE.  it 

cration,  and  it  is  only  twenty-one  years  since  the 
erection  of  the  first  cotton  manufactory.  Previous 
to  this  the  land  in  this  vicinity  belonged  principally 
to  the  families  of  Borden,  Bowen,  and  Durfee  ;  three 
familiec  from  whom  the  principal  part  of  the  station- 
ary inhabitants  sprung.  The  land  now  divided 
among  the  difterent  manufacturing  establishments 
is  principally  held  in  shares,  that  is  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  establishments.  So  flourishing  has 
business  been  there,  that  there  is  scarce  a  mechanic, 
trader,  or  even  labourer,  who  has  been  there  for  any 
length  of  time,  who  has  not  acquired  an  estate  of 
his  own.  In  181^5  the  first  cotton  manufactory  was 
erected  by  a  company  incorporated  by  the  name  of 
the  Fall  River  Company.  In  the  same  year,  anoth- 
er company  was  incorporated  called  the  Troy  Man- 
ufacturing Company,  and  another  factory  built. 
There  are  now,  in  1833,  thirteen  manufactories,  viz.' 
two  cotton  manufactories  of  the  Troy  Company — 
Pocasset,  one  woollen  do. — New  Pocasset — Mas- 
sasoit — Olney's  mill — Calico  works — Fall  P.iver 
Company's  mills,  three  in  number— Annawan— Iron 
Works  and  Nail  Manufactory.  The  Calico  Works 
alone,  which  cover  a  large  area  of  ground,  employ 
nearly  three  hundred  hands ;  its  sta\e  of  improve- 
ment is  not,  we  believe,  exceeded  by  any  establis- 
mentof  the  kind  in  the  country— besides  a  number 
of  machine  shops,  &c.  which,  stuck  about  on  the 
jutting  rocks,  many  of  them  in  the  very  bed  of  the 
stream,  have  a  most  singular  appearance.  The  fall 
originally  was  through  a  deep  black  gulf,  with  high 
rocky  sides.  Across  this  gulf  most  of  the  manu- 
factories are  built.  There  is  an  appearance  of  ac- 
tive industry  and  a  spirit  of  enterprise,  as  well  as  of 
cheerfulness  and  contentment,  that  at  once  strikes 
a6 


10  FALL   RIVER, 

a  Stranger.  It  is  evident  too  from  the  number  of 
houses  of  worship,  schools,  &c.  that  the  moral  and 
religious  education  of  the  rising  generation  is  not 
neglected.  There  are  seven  houses  of  worship. 
Two  for  Congregationalists,  two  for  Baptists,  one 
Free-Will  Baptist,  one  Unitarian,  one  Methodist  &l-c. 
There  are  a  number  of  free-schools  here,  towards 
which  the  inhabitants  themselves  voluntarily  con- 
tribute twenty-five  hundred  dollars  per  annum. 
The  number  of  inhabitants  at  the  present  date, 
1S33,  is  said  to  exceed  five  thousand.  It  is  to  be  ■ 
supposed  that  among  the  heterogeneous  materials 
which  form  the  community  in  this  place,  there  is  a 
great  variety  of  character,  as  well  as  of  creeds;  oc- 
casionally some  differences  of  opinion  as  well  as 
clashing  of  interests.  Yet  for  the  most  part  crime 
has  been  unknown  there.  There  have  indeed  been 
a  few  suicides,  but  they  were  "  few  and  far  be- 
tween ;  "  and  it  has  often  been  a  boast  among  the  in- 
habitants, that  living  as  they  do,  on  the  borders  of  two 
states  (  part,  and  by  far  the  greater  part,  is  in  Troy, 
Mass.  the  other  in  Tiverton,  R.  I. )  the  laws  of  ei- 
ther were  seldom  called  in  to  punish  any  thing  ex- 
cept venial  trangressions.  Fall  River  too  can  boast 
of  its  prowess  in  battle,  of  its  revolutionary  characters 
in  •'  the  times  that  tried  men's  souls.  "  For  although 
their  humble  attempts  to  resist  invasion  have  not 
yet  found  a  place  on  the  pages  of  history,  yet  certain 
it  is,  the  tide  of  war  has  once  rolled  its  threatening 
waves  as  far  up  as  to  reach  the  shores  of  Mount 
Hope  bay.  The  character  for  bravery,  generosity, 
and  independence  of  mind  manifested  at  that  peri- 
od seems  to  have  become  a  part  of  their  inheritance. 
Among  all  the  changes  which  the  increase  of  popu- 
iation  causes,  the  primitive  virtues  of  simplicity  and 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE,        II 

hospitality  are  still  eminently  conspicuous.  Who- 
ever goes  to  reside  there  seems  to  adopt  readily  the 
manners  of  the  inhabitants.  Even  the  labouring 
part  of  the  community  in  the  manufactories,  as  well 
as  in  other  departments,  are  positively  distinguished 
by  a  degree  of  refinement  and  courtesy  of  manners, 
superior  in  a  great  degree  to  what  we  usually  meet 
with  in  manufacturing  villages.*  It  is  a  fact  that 
speaks  loudly  and  deserves  to  be  recorded  in  letters 
of  gold,  that  Fall  River  is  the  only  place  known  to 
the  writer  of  these  sheets  where  she  ever  past  a  week 
without  hearing  one  individual  speak  ill  of  another  : 
and  few  persons  ever  had  a  greater  opportunity,  hav- 
ing spoken  with  more  than  three  hundred  people 
during  that  time. 

We  have  stated  that  previous  to  the  commencement 
of  its  settlement  as  a  manufacturing  village,  and  even 
as  far  back  as  the  revolutionary  war,  the  families  of 
Borden,  Bowen  and  Durfee,  were  the  principal  pro- 
prietors of  the  soil — and  brave  fellows  they  were  too, 
some  of  them.  Even  the  soil  around  this  secluded  spot 
was  stained  with  the  contest.  At  the  time  Newport 
was  in  possession  of  the  British,  there  was  an  attempt 
made  to  destroy  their  mills  at  this  place,  consisting  of 
saw  mills,  grist  mills  and  a  fulling  mill.  An  expedition 
was  fitted  out  in  boats,  and  came  upon  them  in  the 
night  with  the  intention  of  firing  the  village^  consisting^ 

*  I  shall  alwaj's  recollect  with  pleasure  one  little  incident,  in 
one  of  the  weaving  rooms  of  the  manitfactory,  where  the  noise 
was  very  distracting  arising  from  a  vast  nnmber  of  looms  go- 
ing at  once.  The  machinery  suddenly  stopped,  and  a  strain  of 
music  arose  simultaneously  from  every  part  of  the  room,  in  such 
perfect  concord  that  I  at  first  thought  it  a  chime  of  bells.  My 
conductor  smiled  when  I  asked  him  if  it  was  not,  and  pointed  to 
»he  girls,  who  each  kept  their  station  until  they  had  sung  the 
tune  through. 


12  PALL  RIVER,  ..^ 

of  a  Itttle  cluster  of  houses,  about  ten  in  numb^f^ 
and  those  remote  from  each  other.  They  were 
aided  by  some  of  the  tory  refugees,  and  succeeded 
in  landing  on  the  shore,  a  little  below  the  long 
wharf,  that  now  is,  where  they  fired  the  house  of 
Thomas  Borden.  Several  little  bridges  lay  between 
them  and  the  mills,  and  these  were  immediately  de^ 
stroyed  by  the  brave  little  handful  of  men  collected 
on  the  spot,  except  the  last,  behind  which  they  en- 
trenched themselves,  and  commenced  firing  a  few 
yankee  shot,  and  from  behind  the  house  of  Rich- 
ard Borden,  at  the  corner  of  which  one  of  the  ene- 
my was  shot.  (The  old  fabric  is  still  standing.)  The 
enemy  continuing  to  advance,  and  becoming  more 
formidable,  they  succeeded  in  levelling  two  of  them  ; 
one  was  shot  dead,  supposed  by  Doct.  John  Turner, 
and  the  other  mortally  wounded.  This  rather  in- 
timidated the  assailants,  who  made  a  motion  to  re- 
treat, but  after  halting  at  a  little  distance,  returned 
again,  and  the  scuffle  was  renewed — the  yapkees 
fighting  bravely,  with  their  last  pov,  der  and  ball ; 
finding  their  ammunition  all  expended,  they  con- 
trived to  make  up  the  defect  by  management.  One 
of  them,  Sherman,  by  name,  was  mounted  on  the 
wall,  and  instructed  to  give  orders,  which  he  did 
with  a  great  flourish,  telling  them  to  fight  on  brave- 
ly— the  day  was  their  own,  and  they  had  ammuni- 
tion enough  to  last  a  month.  The  poor  fellows  had 
then  the  very  last  in  their  guns — but  they  gave  a 
great  shout,  and  discharged  that  in  the  face  of  the 
foe,  who  swallowed  the  bait,  and  retreated  to  their 
boats,  carrying  with  them,  however,  one  prisoner, 
old  Mr.  Richard  Borden,  who  had  ventured  too 
near  in  the  zeal  of  the  moment.    Boys  fifteen  and 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.  IS 

sixteen  years  old,  fought  in  that  contest,  and  women 
brandished  their  broomsticks — and  tradition  says 
only  one  small  boy  v/as  frightened,  and  he  ran  off 
and  hid  in  the  woods  until  it  was  over.     One  of  the 
tories  who  had  been  an  inhabitant  of  Fall  River, 
and  guided  the  enemy  to  this  little  nook  was  named 
Holland.     The  business  not  prospering  as  he  ex- 
pected, he  was  glad  to  retreat  with  the  British^  and 
at  the  evacuation  of  Newport  went  to  reside  at  Hal- 
ifax.    Many  years  subsequent  to  this,  and  after  he 
had  become  quite  an  old  man,  he  returned  to  Amer- 
ica, and  being  aiixious  to  see  Fall  River,  the  scene 
of  his  treacherous  attempts,   he  visited  it  under  an 
assumed  name.     Thomas  Borden  was  then  an  old 
man,  and  the  stranger  made  some  pretence  for  call- 
ing at  his  house,  but  in  spite  of  his  disguise  and  the 
lapse  of  years,   his  eagle  eye  detected  the  resem- 
blance, and  hastily  advancing  he  demanded  to  know 
^'  if  he  was  not  the  traitor  Holland."     The  stranger 
stoutly  denied  himself  to  be  that  character.     "  If  I 
knew  you  was,"  said  the  old  man,  clenching  his  fist, 
^^  I  would  lay  you  on  that  forestick,  ( pointing  to 
the  fire)  and  roast  you  to  a  cinder."     Holland,  ter- 
rified, fled  again  from  the  place  and  has  never  been 
there  since. 

This  Richard  Borden  was  a  singular  character 
for  oddity.  He  was  taken  prisoner,  I  before  ob- 
served, at  the  memorable  contest  of  the  mills,  and 
as  they  Avere  carrying  him  off  laid  down  in  the  boat 
while  they  were  passing  Bristol  Ferry,  lest  some 
ahot  from  his  enraged  countrymen  should  reach 
them.  The  enemy  commanded  him  to  stand  up, 
which  he  refusing,  two  men  took  hold  of  him  and 
attempted  to  force  him  upon  his  feet,  when  a  chain 
shot   from  the  shore,   mowed  them  both  down  at 


14  FALL  RIVER,  ■ 

once,  and  they  fell  on  the  body  of  the  prisoner,  dead, 
men. 

The  wounded  prisoner,  meanwhile  at  Fall  River, 
died  the  next  day,  and  the  two  comrades  were 
buried  on  the  spot  where  they  fell,  side  by  side. 
One  Peter  Thatcher,  who  had  distinguished  himself 
on  that  memorable  night,  advanced  to  the  grave 
while  this  operation  was  performing,  and  protesting 
if  their  heads  were  laid  together  there  would  be 
some  mischief  hatching,  commanded  them  to  be 
laid  heads  and  points.  This  was  accordingly  done, 
and  in  1828,  when  the  ground  was  excavating  for 
the  erection  of  the  Massasoit  Factory,  the  bones  of 
the  unfortunate  victims  of  kingly  power,  of  the  poor 
wretches  dragged  from  their  families  three  thousand 
miles  across  the  water  to  engage  in  a  broil  of  which 
they  probably  knew  nothing — were  discovered  laying 
heads  and  points. 

**  War  is  a  game,  that  -were  their  subjects  wiifc 
Kings  could  not  play  at. 

The  growth  of  Fall  River  from  the  period  of  the 
revolution  to  the  year  1812,  must  have  been  slow — 
and  even  since  that,  until  1822,*  when  there  was 
but  four  stores  in  the  place,  of  any  description,  and 
not  to  exceed  four  hundred  inhabitants.  There  is 
now  about  100  shops  and  stores  of  various  descrip- 
tions— but  excepting  two  or  three  on  the  Tiverton 
side  of  the  village,  scarce  any  where  spirituous 
liquors  are  retailed,  and  not  a  single  distillery  in  the 
place. 

*The  third  manufactory  w:i.s^  erected  in  1821,  and  two  more  in 
the  ensuing  year.  At  this  period,  1833,  a  large  and  elegant  one 
is  going  up. 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.  l5' 

The  roads  north  and  south  of  the  village,  lead 
through  a  delightful  country.  The  view  of  the 
island  of  Rhode-Island  on  the  ^outh  one  is  beautiful, 
almost  enchanting — while  that  leading  to  Taunton 
is  scarcely  less  picturesque.  On  this  road  lies  the 
little  village  of  Assonet,  where  there  is  considerable 
commerce  carried  on.  It  is  a  singular  sight  to  see 
large  vessels  coming  up  to  the  very  doors  of  the  cot- 
tages, sheltered  and  shut  in  by  the  little  woody  point 
that  encloses  the  tiny  harbor — and  music  to  hear 
the  voices  and  loud  laugh  of  numerous  little  urchins 
who  are  frequently  seen  playing  on  the  hull  of  some 
old  vessel  on  the  grassy  strand.  These  fairy  land- 
scapes on  the  one  hand,  are  strangely  contrasted  by 
the  wildness  and  sterility  of  that  on  the  east,  which 
resembles  a  newly  settled  country.  The  land  lying 
between  Fall  River  and  New-Bedford,  a  distance  of 
from  sixteen  to  eighteen  miles,  is  a  perfect  desert 
for  the  most  part,  being  only  diversified  by  bogs, 
rocky  pastures  and  forests  of  scrub  oak  and  wild 
poplar.  The  village  of  Fall  River  perhaps  owes 
much  of  its  picturesque  appearance  to  the  rocks 
which  are  seen  rising  on  all  sides,  some  of  the  most 
finished  buildings  being  nearly  surrounded  by  rocks. 

It  almost  seems  in  the  law  of  destiny  that  every 
place  shall  have  something  in  its  history  to  recom- 
mend it  to  the  attention  of  mankind. 

In  the  countries  of  Europe,  in  every  part  of  the 
old  world,  scarce  a  village  or  hamlet  is  pasc,  where 
the  attention  of  the  traveller  is  not  called  to  some  cir- 
cumstance of  notoriety  connected  with  the  history 
of  the  place,  either  it  has  been  the  birthplace  of 
some  hero,  or  statesman,  or  poet,  renowned  in  the 
annals  of  the  world,  or  the  spot  where  some  bloody 


If  FALL  RIVER, 

battle  has  been  fought  that  perhaps  dccidccl  the  fate 
of  nations.  Here  was  once  the  resort  of  banditti, 
and  here  once  stood  the  monastery  of  some  religious 
fanatics.  Here  was  the  cell  of  an  anchorite,  and 
here  the'  home  of  unbounded  luxury  and  unbridled 
licentiousness.  Those  ruins  cover  the  springs  once 
so  celebrated  in  history  where  the  beauty  and  fash- 
ion of  centuries  long  gone  by  resorted  for  health  and 
pleasures,  and  drank  from  the  fountains  now  hidden 
fathoms  under  ground.  This  place  witnessed  ages 
since,  the  vows  of  those  celebrated  lovers,  and  this 
was  the  scene  of  a  black  and  midnight  murder. 
Here,  dwelt  the  witches  of  yore,  and  here  the  sorce- 
rers. Here  was  lighted  the  fires  of  the  martyrs,  and 
there,  their  persecutors  breathed  their  last.  Here 
wept  an  injured,  banished  queen,  and  here  a  Idng 
abdicated  his  throne.  In  short,  there  is  no  end  to 
the  (Catalogue  of  events  by  which  each  place  is  con- 
secrated in  the  memory  of  man. 

In  our  happy  country,  new  to  crime  and  unknown 
to  greatness  comparatively  speaking,  there  is  little 
of  this  kind  of  distinction  known.  It  is  sufficient 
that  the  thriving  city  exhibits  the  appearance  of  in- 
dustry and  application  and  enterprise,  that  the  rural 
landscape  teems  with  sights  and  sounds  of  human 
happiness,  that  it  is  clothed  with  the  flowers  of 
spring,  the  verdure  of  summer,  and  the  fullness  of 
autumn.  The  unenvied  distinctions  conferred  by 
the  monuments  of  former  greatness  and  vengeful 
crimes,  we  desire  to  leave  to  our  older  neighbors. 
Yet  even  in  this  o;ir  new  and  favored  country,  crime 
is  sometimes  known.  The  primeval  curse  which 
extends  over  the  whole  earth,  has  not  left  our  plains 
and  vallies  without  some  demonstrations  of  its  uni- 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE,        it 

^  cisality.  "  TJic  blood  of  man,  slain  by  his  brother 
man,  has  at  intervals  stained  the  soil  where  peace 
and  purity  were  v/ont  to  dwell,  and  the  cry  of  mur- 
der, borne  on  the  midnight  blast,  has  sometimes 
been  heard,  even  in  some  of  the  most  secluded  parts 
of  happy  America.  The  traveller  in  future  ages^ 
as  he  wends  his  way  through  the  delightful  village 
we  have  been  describing,  shall  point  to  the  lowly 
grave  on  the  side  of  yonder  hill,  and  say  "  even 
here,  has  the  curse  been  felt — even  here,  has  mur- 
der stalked  abroad,  amidst  scenes  of  nature's  loveli- 
ness, calculated  to  warm  the  coldest  heart  with  grat- 
itude towards  that  good  and  glorious  Being  who 
clothes  the  fields  in  plenty  and  bids  the  landscape 
smile,  has  the  assassin  lurked — here  plotted  the  di- 
rest deed  of  darkness — here  executed  a  scheme  of 
cruelty  which  the  savages  of  our  western  woods 
might  have  shrunk  from."  Here  at  this  lonely 
grave,  whose  plain  and  unobtrusive  stone  just  tells 
the  ncune  and  age  of  a  fc?nale,  cut  oft  in  the  prime 
of  her  days — and  tells  no  more — shall  the  young  and 
the  beautiful  read  the  warnincr  asjainst  the  wiles  of 
man,  here  try  while  recounting  the  sad  story  of  her 
who  sleeps  beneath  to  fortify  each  other  against  the 
encroachments  of  vice,  especially  of  that  which  cap- 
tivates under  the  mask  of  love.  Here  the  prudent 
mother  shall  bring  her  lovely  daughters  to  read  those 
lessons  of  prudence  and  caution,  which  of  all  other 
lessons  the  youthful  heart  is  most  apt  to  revolt  at, 
the  youthful  mind  to  forget.  And  pointing  to  this 
place,  the  drunkard,  the  swearer,  the  Sabbath  break- 
er, the  gambler,  and  even  the  highway  robber,  shall 
exclaim,  "  that  grave  attests  that  monsters  have  liv- 
ed worse  than  me  !"  On  yonder  slope,  where  nature 


18  FALL  RIVER, 

has  spread  her  richest  carpet  of  almost  perpetual 
verdure,  and  where  the  quiet  of  the  scene  might 
seem  to  speak  of  sweet  repose  and  heavenly  con- 
templation, a  deed  of  darkness  has  been  perpetrated, 
at  which  even  such  might  have  revolted.  But  this 
is  digression,  and  we  hasten  on  to  the  story. 


« 


CHAPTER  n. 

About  half  a  mile  from  the  centre  of  the  Village 
of  Fall-River,  in  a  southwardly  direction,  on  the  di- 
rect road  to  Hovv land's  felry  and  rather  remote  from 
any  other  dwelling,  there  is  a  large  old  fashioned  farm 
house  belonging  to  a  family  by  the  name  of  Dnrfee. 
The  land  descends  from  herfi  towards  the  bay  with  a 
gentle  slope,  and  is  probably  about  150  or  200  rods  to 
the  water.  The  house  stands  in  the  State  of  Rhode- 
Island,  and  is  quite  near  the  line  that  marks  the 
boundaries  of  the  two  states.  .  Proceeding  from  here 
towards  the  village  you  enter  the  suburbs  of  Fall- 
River.  In  the  State  of  PJassachusetts  in  about  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  distance^  within  a  short  distunce 
from  this  line  on  the  Mass.  side  is  the  residence  of  a 
physician  esteemed  in  his  profession  as  well  as  in 
his  private  life,  of  unaffected  manners,  and  unas- 
suming deportment.  His  appearance  is  the  very  epit- 
ome of  plain  old  fash'ioned  Republican  simplicity: 
there  is  a  degree  of  fi-ankness  and  benevolence  ex- 
pressed in  his  countenance  that  at  once  secures  the 
confidence,  even  of  strangers. 

It  was  on  the  evening  of  the  Sth  of  October  1832, 
that  the  Doctor  was  summoned  to  the  parlor  to  see  a 
lady  who  desired  to  speak  with  him.  This  circum- 
stance to  a  phvsician  was  nothing  extraordinary,  and 
therefore  it  was  without  any  feelings  of  curiosity  or 
awakened  attention  that  the  doctor  obeyed  the  sunir 
mons:  he  perceived  a  young  woman  very  plainly  hab- 
ited and  of  most  dejected^appearance :  her  age  he 
judged  might  be  about  twenty  eight,  and  her  coun- 
tenance bespoke  the  possession  of  beauty  in  happier 

B 


20  FALL  RIVER.  M 

days — but  it  was  now  clouded  with  care  and  sha* 
ded  with  grief,  and  as  she  arose  to  adress  the  doctor 
upon  his  enterance,  the  air  of  extreme  dejection  that 
she  wore,  caught  his  eye,  and  in  a  moment  interested 
him  in  behalf  of  the  unknown  sufferer.  He  begged 
her  to  be  seated :  while  drawing  a  chair  opposite,  he 
endeavoured  to  penetrate  so  dee.p  a  grief  and  ascer- 
tain the  cause  of  this  visit.  "She  had  come  she  said 
to  consult  him  on  the  subject  of  her  health.  She 
had  not  been  well  for  some  time,  and  wished  to  as- 
certain with  certainty  the  nature  of  her  disease." 

The  doctor  desired  her  to  mention  her  symptoms. 
She  did  so.  Not  having  the  slightest  recollection  of 
seeing  her  before,  he  inquired,  was  she  a  stranger 
here  ?  "Not  exactly ;  she  had  been  employed  to 
weave  in  one  of  the  cotton  manufactories  for  some 
time  past."  "Iler  work  probably  disagreed  with 
her  :  had  she  been  used  to  such  employment?"  yes, 
for  several  years.  "Would  she  be  so  good  as  to  state 
her  symptoms  once  more?  she  did  so,  with  a  fault- 
tering  voice,  and  changing  cheek.  The  doctor 
rose,  took  a  turn  or  two  across  the  room,  and  again 
seating  himself  opposite,  asked  the  question,  "Are 
you  married,  madam  ? ' 

"No  sir,"  said  the  young  woman  faintly. — A  long 
pause  ensued. 

"  If  you  were  a  married  woman  I  should  be  apt 
to  tell  you  what  I  thought,  but  as  it  is  I  scarcely 
know  what  to  say,  except  it  is  my  opinion  you  will 
not  be  able  to  work  in  the  factory  much  longer." 
The  miserable  young  woman  clasped  her  hands  to- 
gether and  wept  profusely. 

"Can  you  speak  with  certainty,  sir,  as  respects  my 
case  ?"  "I  cannot,  said  the  doctor,  nor  no  other  per- 
son with  certainty.     I  only  give  my  opinion,  ground- 


AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.  21 

€(i  upon  the  facts  you  have  stated  with  respect  to 
your  ill  liealth,  and  I  may  add  your  too  evident  dis- 
tress bespeaks  you  have  been  the  prey  of  a  villain  ; 
but  has  not  the  person  uho  has  thus  entailed  misfor- 
tune upon  you,  the  power  to  take  you  from  the  hard- 
ships of  a  flictory  and  place  you  in  a  comfortable  sit- 
uation, until  you  can  again  resume  your  employment 
with  safety  to  yourself?" 

"  I  am  afraid  he  would  not  be  willing  to  do  so." 
"  Not  be  willing !  then  he  must   be  a  very   base 
man.     It  certainly  is  in  his  place  to  do  so.     Who  is 
he  ?"  no  answer  but  tears. 

"  Can  you  not  tell  me  his  name  ?" 
"I  cannot,  I  dare  not,"  said  she  at  last,  bursting 
into  a  fresh  flood  of  tears. 

**  Have  you  no  connections  in  this  place  young 
woman  ?  demanded  the  doctor. 

*'  None  sir  except  religious  connections." 
"  Then  you  are  a  member  of  some  religious  soci- 
ety—of  which  ?  " 

**Of  the  methodist,  sir." 

''  Well  your  case  is  certainly  a  very  peculiar  and 
n  very  distressing  one,  but  I  can  see  no  reason  why 
you  cannot  tell  who  this  person  is — this  man  who 
has  led  you  into  this  trouble — there  seems  to  bo 
some  great  mystery  about  it,  which  I  am  desirous  of 
unravelling.  Perhaps  I  can  advise  you  to  some  safe 
course,  and  if  I  am  to  be  your  physician  I  insist  up- 
on knowing  before  I  give  you  any  further  advice, 
and  if  it  is  in  my  power  to  befriend  you  in  any  way 
I  should  certainly  do  so.  It  was  not  until  many 
apparent  struggles  with  herself,  much  persuasion, 
solemn  injunctions  to  secresy,  and  finally  a  promise 
on  the  part  of  the  doctor  not  to  expose  the  name, 
that  she  at  length  reluctantly  disclosed  it ;  and  great 


22  PALL  RIVER, 

was  the  doctor's  astonit^hnient  indeed  whe;ii  she  na- 
med a  preacher  of  the  gospel  as  her  belrayer — a 
Methodist  minister !" 

"  Monstroas !  said  the  appalled  physician,  and 
does  he  preach  now?"  "  Yes  t:ir,  in  Bristol,  next 
town  to  this.'"' 

"  But  how,  where,  which  M'ay,  coidd  a  minister  of 
the  gospel  contrive  to  insnit  one  of  his  flock?  YvHiere 
young  woman,  I  must  ask,  has  your  interviews  ta- 
ken place  ?" 

*'  Our  interview,  sir,  was  at  the  late  Camp  Meet- 
ing in  Thompson,  Con.  It  was  unsought  by  me  for 
any  such  purpose,  but  I  trusted  myself  with  him  m 
a  lonely  place,  and  he  acted  a  treacherous  part." 

"  Amazing,"  exclaimed  the  doctor,  '*  under  the 
mask  of  religion  too !  Well  young  woman  it  is  use- 
less to  mourn  over  what  is  past  and  cannot  now  be 
mended.  Your  biisincss  must  now  be  to  take  care 
of  yourself — and  there  is  as  I  conceive  one  straight 
forward  course  for  you  to  pursue.  Such  a  man  de- 
serves to  be  exposed.  It  is  a  duty  you  owe  not  only 
to  yourself  but  to  the  public  to  expose  the  man.  It 
is  outrageous  that  such  a  man  should  continue  to 
deceive  the  public.  I  would  therefore  if  I  were  you 
boldly  go  forward  and  expose  him  to  the  world,  and 
compel  him  by  law  to  do  me  justice.  You  would 
certainly  be  doing  society  a  service  to  unmask  such 
a  person." 

"  Oh  I  cannot,  I  cannot  sir,  indeed,"  said  the 
young  woman,  with  a  shudder.  "  I  cannot  consent 
to  bring  such  disgrace  and  trouble  upon  the  churchy 
and  upon  his  innocent  family  to.  He  has  a  worthy 
woman  for  a  wife,  and  she  and  all  his  innocent  chil- 
dren must  be  disgraced  if  he  is  exposed." 

"  Well,  I  know  not  what  to  advise  you,  young 


AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.  2S 

woman,  if  you  are  averse  to  tiiis  course.  Tiiere  is 
but  one  otlier  way  to  obtain  redress — and  tliat  is  by 
threatening  him.  You  must  at  all  events  be  provi- 
ded for  before  long,  and  the  best  way  is  in  case  you 
do  not  expose  him,  to  threaten  to  do  so  unless  he 
settles  handsomely  with  you,  and  enables  you  to 
leave  the  factory  until  after  the  termination  of  this 
unhappy  affair.  To  this  the  young  woman  assented, 
and  saying  she  would  call  again,  after  writing  to 
him,  withdrew." 

The  image  of  this  afflicted  and  unhappy  person 
could  not  momently  be  erased  from  the  mind  of  the 
doctor.  The  circumstance  of  itself  was  calculated 
to  interest,  and  the  sufferer,  though  not  very  hand- 
some, was  certainly  a  very  interestmg  person.  It 
was  not  long  though  before  she  called  again,  and 
the  subject  of  her  second  communication  was  cer- 
tainly not  less  interesting  than  the  first.  She  came 
now  she  said  to  ask  advice  as  a  friend.  She  had 
recently  received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Avery  requesting 
her  to  come  to  Bristol  and  see  him  there — that  he 
appointed  a  time  and  place,  and  seemed  anxious  for 
the  interview.  She  stated  also  she  had  received 
another  letter  from  Providence,  during  the  four  days 
meeting. 

The  doctor  again  advised  her  to  compel  Avery  to 
a  settlement,  and  she  asked  what  she  had  better  say 
to  him.  lie  observed  that  she  ought  at  least  to  de- 
mand three  hundred  dollars,  and  he  had  no  doubt 
Avery  would  think  himself  well  ofTto  come  off  so. 

"  Why,"  said  she,  "  he  is  not  able  to  give  such  a 
sum.  The  Methodist  ministers  are  poor — all  poor. 
They  are  very  illy  paid  for  their  services,  and  I  doubt 
his  power  to  make  up  such  a  sum,  besides  I  should 
not  dare  name  so  much  for  fear  he  would  think  I 
b3 


24  PALL  RIVER. 

liad  toid  some  one."  And  she  seemed  to  be  in  con- 
siderable terror  at  the  idea'that  he  should  suspect 
he  had  been  exposed  to  any  one.  She  then  inform- 
ed the  doctor  that  she  had  a  short  interview  with 
him  at  Fall  River,  where  she  met  him  on  the  meet- 
ing-house steps,  and  walked  away  with  him,  and 
that  he  wished  her  to  take  a  medicine  which  he 
recommended,  in  order  to  prevent  future  trouble  and 
expense,  and  at  once  obliterate  the  effects  of  their- 
connexion.  The  doctor  inquired  what  it  was,  and 
was  shocked  and  surprized  to  learn  it  was  one  of 
such  deadly  effect  that  she  would  probably  have  ex- 
pired on  the  spot  had  she  taken  it.  The  drug  re- 
ferred- to  was  the  oil  of  tansy,  one  of  the  most  violent 
things  ever  used,  and  never  given  except  in  very 
small  quantities,  and  under  the  direction  of  a  physi- 
cian. Comprehending  as  he  now  thought  a  little  of 
the  plot,  he  advised  her  against  a  private  interview 
with  Avery,  and  begged  her  by  no  means  to  go  to 
Bristol  and  give  him  the  private  interview  he  re- 
quested, nor  to  take  any  medicine  of  his  prescrip- 
tion, telling  her  the  one  recommended  would  proba- 
bly have  killed  her  on  the  spot,  if  not,  it  would  have 
utterly  destroyed  her  health  for  ever.*  The  girl 
seemed  shocked,  but  could  not  seem  to  believe  her 
betrayer  had  designs  on  her  life.  The  doctor  ob- 
served if  she  meant  to  do  any  thing  of  that  sort  she 
nmst  apply  to  another  physician.  She  however 
avowed  her  determination  to  take  nothing,  but  bear 
as  she  said,  the  whole  shame  and  disgrace  of  it  her- 
self, "  and  take  care  of  her  child  as  well  as  she  was 
able."  The  doctor  commended  her  in  this  resolu- 
tion, and  told   her  it  was  his  duty  to  come  to  her, 

♦  Thirty  drop?,  5he  pjiuI  he  told  her  to  take  at  once.     Four 
drops  is  cunsidcred  a  large  doso. 


AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.  25 

not  hers  to  go  to  him,  and  to  have  liim  by  all  means 
come  to  Fall  River,  artitipeet  him  in  some  suitable 
place,  where  they  could  talk  it  over  and  make  some 
settlement  with  him,  that  was,  in  case   she  had  still 
resolved  not  to  expose  him  publicly.  This  she  seem- 
ed resolved   not  to  do,   and  spake  again  of  the  dis- 
tress such  a  disclosure  would  bring  upon  his  family, 
and   mentioned   the  agitation  the  first  disclosure  of 
her  situation  had  caused  him.     He  protested  to  her 
afterwards  that  he  passed  the  "  most  icretchcd  night 
that  night  he  had  ever  done,  having  scarcely/  closed 
his  ci/es."     Much  more   conversation  occurred  of 
the  same  description,  accompanied   by  many  tears, 
which  the  doctor   observed   she   always  shed  when 
conversing  on  that  subject ;   and  thanking  him  for 
his  kindness,  she  withdrew,  leaving  an  impression 
of  pity  and  admiration  upon   the  mind  of  the   good 
physician,  tliat  one  so  feelingly  alive  to  sentiments 
of  virtue  and  propriety  should   have  fallen  into  such 
a  snare.     She   had,  between  these  interviews  men- 
tioned,  called  for  medicine  to  take,   such  as  her 
health  required,  and   the  doctor  observed  he  never 
saw  her  without  her  shedding  tears   and  betraying 
most  painful  feelings  with  respect  to  her  situation, 
although  she  was  calm,  and  seemed  to  have  resign- 
ed herself  to  the  event. 

A  few  weeks  only  elapsed  since  the  last  visit  of 
Miss  Cornell,  during  which  the  doctor  often  thought 
of  her,  and  wondered  how  she  was  likely  to  settle 
the  difficulty  with  her  seducer  as  he  termed  him,  for 
so  perfectly  modest  and  proper  was  her  deportment 
that  he  could  on  no  account  harbor  an  opinion,  but 
that  she  had  been  artfully  led  from  the  paths  of  vir- 
tue, by  one  in  whom  it  was  perfectly  natural  she 
should  place  the  utmost  confidence.  He  looked 
b4 


26  rALL  RIVER. 

upon  her  as  one  of  the  most*pfortunate  of  women, 
but  could  not  despise  her  as  he  might  have  done  in 
other  circumstances. 

It  was  on  a  cold  frosty  morning,  the  21st  Decem- 
ber, that  the  doctor  observed  some  people  running 
up  the  street,  apparently  in  great  haste  ;  he  stood 
at  the  window  watching  when  they  should  return, 
to  know  what  the  matter  was ;  but  no  body  came 
back,  while  another  and  another  party  followed 
close  upon  the  heels  of  the  former.  The  women 
appeared  to  be  horror  struck  as  they  collected  in 
groups  at  their  doors  or  in  the  streets,  and  many 
leaving  their  families  just  as  they  were,  (it  was  about 
breakfast  time)  and  hastily  throwing  something  over 
them  pushed  on  in  the  direction  of  Durfee's  farm. 
Presently  some  one  cam.e  running  into  the  doctor's, 
saying  a  young  woman  had  just  hung  herself  up  at 
Durfee's.  The  doctor  stopped  to  ask  no  more,  but 
catching  his  hat,  ran  up  to  the  farm,  without  how- 
ever having  the  least  suspicion  who  it  was.  Upon 
gaining  a  stack  yard  some  fifty  rods  south  of  the 
house,  he  perceived  a  female  lying  on  the  ground, 
for  they  had  taken  her  down.  She  lay  with  her 
cloak,  gloves  and  calash  on,  and  her  arms  drawn 
under  her  cloak. 

"Dees  any  one  know  her?"  asked  one.  "She 
is  well  dressed,"  said  another,  *'  I  think  she  must  be 
somebody  respectable."  "  Yes  I  know  her,"  said 
the  Methodist  minister  who  had  arrived  on  the 
ground  a  little  previous  to  the  doctor — "  she  is  a  re- 
spectable young  woman,  and  a  member  of  my 
church." 

Just  then  the  physician  reached  the  yard,  and 
hastily  lifting  the  profusion  of  dark  locks  that  had 
fallen  entirely  over  her  face,  he  discovered   with 


AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.  27 

grief  and  astonishment  the  countenance  of  his  late 
interesting  patient.  Horror  struck,  he  endeavored  to 
loosen  the  cord  from  her  neek;  it  was  nearly  half  an 
inch  imbedded  in  the  flesh.  But  alas  !  there  was 
nothing  in  the  usual  remedies  to  produce  resusita- 
tion  that  would  have  availed  any  thing  here,  for  the 
young  woman  appeared  to  have  been  there  all  night 
and  was  frozen  stiff.  And  is  this  the  end  of  thy  sor- 
rows, poor  unfortunate  !  thought  the  kind  physician, 
as  bending  over  the  hapless  victim  of  unhallowed 
passion.  He  gazed  upon  that  altered  countenance 
— altered  it  was  indeed — it  was  livid  pale, — her 
tongue  protruded  through  her  teeth — pushed  out 
her  under  lip,  that  was  very  much  swollen  as  though 
it  had  received  some  hard  blow,  or  been  severely 
bit  in  anguish,  gave  a  dreadful  expression  of  ag- 
ony, while  a  deep  indentation  on  the  cheek  looked 
as  though  that  too  must  have  been  pressed  by  some 
hard  substance  ;  but  whatever  he  thought  at  that 
time  respecting  the  means  by  which  she  came  to  her 
death,  he  wisely  forbore  to  utter  it,  and  the  jury  of 
inquest  was  summoned  in  immediately.*  In  the 
mean  time  the  respectable  farmer  in  whose  prem- 
ises the  deceased  was  found,  after  having  her  care- 
fully conveyed  to  the  house,  inquired  of  the  Metho- 
dist minister  if  she  had  any  friends  in  the  place,  and 
if  not   whether  the  society  of  which  he  said  she  was 

*  Her  countenance  was  exceedingly  distorted,  and  there  was 
not  only  an  expression  of  anguish  upon  it,  but  one  of  horror  and 
affright,  combined  with  an  angry  frown.  "  That  terrible  look," 
said  the  doctor,  "  was  present  with  me  for  months,  and  often  in 
the  dead  of  night  has  appeared  to  my  imagination  with  such  force 
as  to  awake  me,  and  I  can  scai'cely  think  of  it  now  without  a 
chill.  That  look  never  was  seen  on  the  countenance  of  a  person 
who  did  not  die  by  violence."  He  expressed  his  amazement  that 
among  all  that  was  said  in  Court  that  circumstance  was  noV  at- 
tested. 

b5 


2S  FALL   RIVER. 

a  respectable  mciubcr  would  not  see  to  the  expense 
of  her  funeral.     That  person  replied  that  he  did  not 
exactly  know  their  rules  in  such  cases,  but  he  would 
go  and   consult  them   and   return  soon  and  inform 
them.     Meanwhile  the  truth   struggled  hard  in  the 
breast  of  the  doctor.     He  had  felt  himself  bound  to 
secrecy  in  case  the  girl   had  lived,  respecting  the 
name  of  her  betrayer,  but  her  death  and  the  awful 
manner  of  it  impelled  him  to  reveal  what  he  believ- 
ed to  be  the  cause.     He  felt  that  death  had  taken 
off  the  injunction  of  secrecy  ;  and  stepping  after  the 
clergyman,  he  related  the  confession  of  the  unhap- 
py girl  to  him,   and   what  she  had  said  respecting 
his  brother  Avery.     In  what  language  he  expressed 
himself,  or  whether  he  gave  way   to  the  feelings  of 
indignation  which   the  knowledge  of  such  a  trans- 
action was  calculated  to  awaken,  is  not  known,  but 
the  reverend  listener  was  at  once  roused  to  defend 
him,  and  express  his  full  belief  that  his  brother  was 
perfectly   innocent,   and   finally  asserted  "  that  the 
deceased  was  a  very  bad  character,  and  that  Avery 
had  told  him  so,  and  warned  him  against  her,  and 
that  she  was  not  in  full  communion  with  the  meet- 
ing but  only  received  upon  probation."    Very  short- 
ly he  returned  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Durfee,  and  said 
that  "  the  deceased  was   a  bad  character  and  the 
meeting  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  burying 
her." 

Of  course  Mr.  Durfee's  astonishment  was  very 
<ifreat,  having  just  before  heard  the  Rev.  gentleman 
say  *'  she  was  a  respectable  woman  and  a  member  of 
their  society."  But  nothing  influenced  the  honest 
and  benevolent  farmer  to  omit  his  own  duty,  and  de- 
ny the  right  of  burial  to  the  poor  unhappy  girl 
whose  remains  Providence  seemed  in  a  peculiar 
manner  to  have  confided  to  hib  care. 


AUTHENTIC  ry'ARRATIVE.  21) 

"  She  shall  have  a  burial  place  in  my  grounds," 
said  he,  *'  near  n)y  family,  and  as  respectable  a  fune- 
ral as  any  body,  and  as  respectable  a  clergyman  as 
any  other  to  make  the  prayer,  and  every  thing  that 
is  necessary  and  decent  shall  be  attended  to."  And 
without  any  fear  of  contamination,  from  the  neigh- 
borhood of  one  whom  the  clergyman  chose  to  de- 
nominate a  vile  character,  he  gave  orders  to  have  a 
grave  prepared  for  her  near  his  own  family. 

In  the  mean  time  a  hasty  and  irregular  jury  had 
been  selected  and  sitting  upon  the  question,  and  af- 
ter a  very  superficial  observation,  and  no  examina- 
tion whatever  of  her  person,  brought  in  a  verdict  of 
^'suicide."  The  corpse  was  then  delivered  into  the 
hands  of  five  or  six  of  some  of  the  most  respectable 
matrons  of  the  village  who  had  volunteered  to  per- 
form this  office  of  benevolence  towards  the  hapless 
stranger. 

They  commenced  this  work  with  mournful  re- 
flections upon  the  subject  of  self-murder,  and  some 
expressions  of  pity  towards  her  whose  hard  fortune 
some  way  or  other  must  have  driven  her  to  so  rash 
and  daring  an  act,  for  that  she  died  otherwise  than 
by  her  own  hand  never  entered  the  heads  of  either 
of  the  good  women.  But  what  was  their  astonish- 
ment when  stripping  the  body  for  the  purpose  of  ar- 
raying it  for  the  grave  they  discovered  marks  of  vio- 
lence about  her  person.  "  Oh  said  one  of  the  oldest 
of  the  ladies  who  they  called  aunt  Hannah,  what  has 
been  done  ?  "  the  person  adressed  answered  '"  rash 
violence  "  Just  above  each  hip  were  marks  of  hands, 
the  bruises  of  which  were  very  bad,  so  that  the  spots 
of  the  thumb  inwards,  and  the  fingers  outside  were 
distinctly  visible,  they  were  those  of  a  large  hand, 
for  one  or  two  of  the  women  aojllyed  theirs  and  they 


oO  FALL  RIVER. 

were  not  large  enough  to  cover  the  marks  :  one  only, 
the  person  they  called  aunt  Hannah,  found  her  hand 
to  fit :  there  were  bad  bruises  on  the  back,  and  the 
knees  scratched  and  stained  with  grass  as  though 
they  had  been  on  the  ground  during  some  struggle : 
spots  below  the  knee  where  the  skin  was  rubbed  off 
and  bad  bruises  on  the  back  ;  the  right  arm  was  bent 
up  and  the  hand  turned  back,  and  it  was  with  much 
difficulty  the  females  could  bring  it  down,  after  fo- 
menting it  for  some  time  with  warm  water,  and 
when  they  succeeded  in  bending  it  down  it  snapt  so 
that  they  thought  it  must  have  been  broken  :  appear- 
ance of  a  blow  on  the  under  lip,  which  was  much 
swollen,  and  the  tongue  projected  out  a  little.  Still 
those  women  said  but  little,  except  a  few  whispers 
among  themselves :  in  fact  the  time  was  too  short  for 
much  talking.  The  body  was  not  laid  out  until  past 
noon  on  the  day  she  was  found,  and  she  wasbUried 
at  one  o'clock  on  the  next  day.  One  most  startling 
circumstance  however  occured  to  arouse  the  atten- 
tion and  petrify  the  blood  of  the  spectators. 

Mr.  Durfee^  the  farmer  who  found  the  deceaced, 
took  his  wagon  (  shortly  after  the  verdict  of  the  jury 
of  inquest)  and  proceeded  to  the  house  where  she 
had  boarded,  after  her  things,  the  object  of  this  was. 
to  find  something  suitable  for  grave  cloths,  and  if 
possible  to  ascertain  by  some  letters  or  something 
of  that  kind  where  the  friends  of  this  poor  girl,  if  she 
had  any,  were  to  be  found.  He  found  a  trunk,  lock- 
ed, and  a  bandbox  of  clothes,  &.c.  which  he  took, 
and  returned  about  noon.  The  key  of  the  trunk 
was  found  in  the  pocket  of  the  deceased,  in  pres- 
ence of  a  number  of  persons.  The  trunk  was  ex- 
amined, and  four  letters  found  in  the  bottom  of  it. 
One  was  addressed  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bidwell  of.Fall 


AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.  31 

River,  her  minister,  written  by  herself.  The  other 
three  were  anonymous,  but  directed  on  the  outside 
to  Sarah  M.  Connell,  Fall  River.  Near  the  middle 
of  the  bandbox  lay  a  small  piece  of  soiled  paper  and 
a  lead  pencil.  Mr.  Durfee  did  not  open  the  little 
piece  of  paper  or  think  of  its  being  of  any  conse- 
quence whatever.  Two  of  the  women,  on  rumma- 
ging the  bandbox  late  in  the  afternoon,  in  hopes  by 
some  means  to  discover  where  to  direct  a  letter  to 
her  friends,  chanced  to  observe  this  very  piece  of 
paper,  which,  though  very  small,  soiled,  and  looking 
like  waste  paper,  they  unfolded  and  read.  It  con- 
tained these  w^ords — ''  If  I  am  missing  enquire  of 
the  Rev.  E.  K.  Avery.  S.  M.  C. 

There  were  a  great  many  persons  in  the  house, 
and  constantly  going  and  coming,  and  although  the 
women  talked  much  about  it  and  shew  it  to  others 
in  the  house,  one  of  whom  was  the  wife  of  the  congre- 
gational clergyman,  invited  to  make  the  prayer,  yet 
it  was  not  seen  by  the  master  of  the  house  until  next 
morning.  His  thoughts  upon  reading  it  may  easily 
be  discerned.  The  hour  of  the  funeral  however 
drew  near  and  active  duties  prevented  much  time 
from  being  spent  in  debate.  The  resolution  howev- 
er of  Mr.  Durfee  and  some  others  to  have  the  mat- 
ter investigated,  seemed  to  have  been  taken.  A 
crown  gathered  early  to  the  house,  and  solemn  and 
appropriate  prayer  Vv\as  made  by  the  congregational 
minister,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Fowler,  and,  followed  by  a 
numerous  procession,  the  remains  of  the  unfortu- 
nate and  mysterious  stranger  were  conveyed  to  the 
grave.  Providence  however  had  determined  that 
though  consigned  to  the  grave  it  should  not  be  to 
present  repose.  A  storm  was  gathering  which  was 
destined  not  only  to  call  forth  the  dead  from  her 
B  7 


S2  FALL  RIVER- 

grave,  but  to  shake  the  society  to  wliich  she  belong- 
ed to  its  centre — a  storm  whose  eftects  have  contin- 
ued to  be  felt  ever  since — a  contention  which  has 
embittered  many  former  friends  against  each  other, 
created  many  heart-burnings,  assailed  the  peace  of 
families,  hindered  the  christian  missionary  in  the 
exercise  of  his  pious  duties,  caused  the  name  of 
Christ  to  be  blasphemed,  and  in  some  places  almost 
depopulated  churches. 


CHAPTER  IIJ. 

Although  consigned  to  her  grave,  the  image  of 
the  murdered  maid  (for  murdered  he  now  no  longer 
douhted  she  was)  continued  to  haunt  the  pillow  of 
Mr.  Durfee,  and  he  arose  on  the  following  day  de- 
termined to  investigate  the  dark  mystery  which 
hung  over  her  fate.  A  circumstance  occurred  on 
this  morning  to  materially  increase  the  evidence  of 
the  murder  of  the  young  woman.  A  man  in  the 
neighborhood,  (Thomas  Hart,)  while  walking  near 
the  scene  of  the  sad  catastrophe,  found  about  thirty 
rods  from  the  place,  in  the  direction  towards  Fall 
River,  a  piece  of  a  comb,  which  upon  being  shewn 
to  the  woman  where  the  deceased  boarded,  was 
identified  as  hers.  It  was  also  known  by  the  jew- 
eller who  had  mended  it  for  her  a  short  time  before, 
by  the  rivetting,  which  was  peculiar.  This  piece  of 
comb,  evidently  broken  in  a  struggle,  was  carried 
by  Mr.  Hart  to  Mr.  Durfee.  That  gentleman  took 
it,  and  with  that  and  the  piece  of  paper  found  in 
the  bandbox,  waited  on  the  coroner.*  The  case 
seemed  to  call  loudly  for  examinatiort,  and  the  cor- 
oner ordered  the  body  disinterred  on  the  following 

*The  first  part  of  the  comb  was  found  some  rods  from  the  place 
while  she  lay  near  the  stiick,  after  they  had  taken  her  down,  and 
(he  man  who  found  it  brought  it  and  laid  it  on  her  cloak.  They 
did  not  then  know  but  she  wore  a  broken  piece  in  her  hair,  until 
;^ller  its  fellow  was  found.  iSome  way  further  off,  on  the  lonely 
path  leading  round  the  corner  of  the  wall  towards  Fall  River,  she 
was  buried  with  the  first  piece  in  her  hair,  and  when  disinterred 
it  was  taken  out  and  compared  with  the  remaining  piece  found, 
and  they  fitted,  and  both  parts  were  then  identified.  It  was  sin- 
gular that  the  pocket  handkerchief  of  the  deceased,  found  near  her 
wound  up  in  a  hard  launch  and  wet  through  and  through,  should 

b8 


o4  FALL  RIVER, 

(lay,  and  called  a  new  jury.  Three  of  the  prmcipal 
physicians  and  surgeons  of  the  place  examined  the 
person  of  the  deceased,  that  is  the  external  bruises, 
and  ascertained  she  had  told  no  falsehood  with  re- 
spect to  her  situation.  From  the  state  of  the  lungs 
it  appeared  she  died  of  suffocation,  and  from  the 
mark  of  the  rope  around  her  neck,  that  she  could 
not  have  died  by  hanging,  but  by  the  drawing  of  the 
cord,  which  had  been  drawn  so  tight  as  to  strangle, 
and  must  have  been  so  before  suspension  from  the 
stake,  as  the  knot  they  all  deposed  was  not  a  slip 
knot,  but  what  is  called  a  clove  hitch,  and  could 
not  have  been  drawn  but  by  pulling  the  two  ends 
separately.  Various  other  circumstances  now  for 
the  first  time  detailed,  were  related,  such  as  the  de- 
ceased being  found  with  her  cloak  hooked  down  be- 
fore and  her  hands  under  it,  her  knees  within  four 
inches  of  the  ground,  and  her  clothes  smooth  under 
them,  and  moreover  as  it  was  known  that  when  the 
neck  is  not  broken  by  hanging,  and  hers  was  not, 
there  is  a  great  struo^o-le  in  death,  and  there  was  not 
on  the  ground  beneath  the  least  signs  of  any.  On 
the  contrary,  her  feet  were  quite  close  together,  her 
clothes  standing  off  from  her  behind  as  far  as  they 
would  reach,  and  smooth  under  her.  And  lastly, 
and  most  extraordinary  of  all,   her  gloves  on  her 

have  been  so  little  tlioiii;ht  of  at  the  time.  By  soaking  it  in 
in  cold  water  it  would  have  been  ascertained  it  Avas  wet  with 
saliva,  but  they  did  not  think  of  tills  test  at  the  time,  though  it 
Avas  afterwards  believed  to  have  been  used  to  stop  her  mouth  by  some 
person  who  murdered  her.  Doctor  VVillxjur  remarked  that  the 
cloak  showed  marks  of  tears,  which  combined  witii  the  discharge 
from  the  nose  appeared  to  have  been  very  plentifully  shed  and  ran 
down  on  each  side  of  the  cloak.  He  has  even  expressed  his  hope 
*'  that  they  might  have  been  tears  of  penitance  as  well  as  anguish, 
fhed  when  she  found  the  fangt^  of  the  murderer  were  upon  her, 
and  she  was  about  to  appear  in  the  presence  of  her  God." 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.  35 

hands,  without  any  marks  of  a  rope  or  any  thing  of 
the  kind  upon  them,  although  the  rope  must  have 
been  drawn  with  great  strength  by  two  hands  be- 
fore it  was  tied  to  the  stake. 

With  all  these  proofs  before  them  it  was  not  sur- 
prising their  verdict  should  be  "  murder."  It  was 
true  suspicion  pointed  at  Avery  before,  but  the  sup- 
posed sanctity  of  his  character  shut  the  mouths  of 
many  who  but  for  that  and  his  profession  would 
have  been  ready  to  exclaim  "  thou  art  the  man." 

Although  Mr.  Durfee  and  others  were  thus  alone 
in  acting,  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  circumstances 
of  the  nature  just  described  could  be  concealed. 
They  were  not:  and  the  inhabitants  of  Fall  River 
on  the  Massachusetts  side  (  where  they  do  busines 
off  hand,  and  not  quite  so  clumsily  as  in  Rhode-Is- 
land )  having  heard  from  the  first  the  circumstances 
of  suspicion  that  had  been  developed,  became  very 
much  amazed  at  the  slowness  of  enquiry  respecting 
such  a  horrible  transaction  ;  and  feeling  themselves 
rather  scandalized,  as  a  place,  although  the  matter 
did  not  come  under  their  immediate  cognizance,  at 
length  began  to  take  active  measures  in  relation  to 
it.  All  day  Sunday  there  was  a  sort  of  half  stifled 
hum  heard  through  the  village.  The  bells  as  usual 
called  people  to  public  worship,  but  not  as  usual  was 
the  solemnity  of  it  regarded  by  the  great  mass  of  the 
people.  Many,  to  be  sure,  went  to  meeting ;  but 
many  did  not  appear  to  hear  after  they  got  there. 
Some  thought  ministers  were  such  wicked  creatures, 
they  did  not  want  to  hear  them;  and  some  too  just 
to  condemn  all,  for  the  sins  of  one,  endeavoured  to 
listen  with  reverence,  while  their  thoughts,  in  spite 
of  themselves,  Avould  wander  after  him,  who  iri  their 
b9 


56  FALL  IlIVJER, 

mind  was  guilty  of  this  foul  deed,  and  at  this  very 
time  calling  sinnos  to  repentance. 

Oh  you  !  upon  whom  the  authorities  of  the  church, 
and  the  partiality  of  man,  have  conferred  the  envied 
distinction  of  speaking  in  your  Master's  cause,  of 
being  ambassadors  for  the  greatest  and  highest  of 
potentates,  how  great  is  your  responsibility  !  a  stain 
upon  that  spotless  garment  who  shall  wash  away  ?  If 
you  are  defiled  by  abominations,  the  destruction  of 
your  own  souls  is  the  least  evil  of  which  you  are  the 
cause. 

All  day,  little  knots  of  citizens  were  seen  gather- 
ing at  the  corners  of  the  streets,  and  even  at  the 
meeting-house  doors,  discussing  the  subject  of  the 
murder,  though  in  an  under  tone  of  voice.  Upon 
separating,  they  were  invariably  observed  to  shake 
their  heads  and  walk  away  sorrowful.  No  active 
measures  were,  however,  taken  until  morning  ;  when 
a  few  citizens  met  in  the  street,  and  agreed  upon 
having  a  meeting  at  the  Lyceum  Hall.  A  boy  was 
sent  about  the  streets  with  a  bell,  to  notify  the  peo- 
ple to  assemble,  and  very  soon  after  the  hall  was  fill- 
ed to  overflowing.  Upon  motion,  a  committee,  con- 
sisting of  five  gentlemen,  some  of  the  most  respecta- 
ble persons  in  the  place,  was  appointed  ;  who  were 
directed  to  "  meet  the  Coroner  and  jury  of  inquest, 
who,  it  was  understood,  were  that  morning  to  be  in 
session,  and  disinter  the  body  for  further  examina- 
tion ;  and  if,  upon  examination,  they  should  believe 
a  murder  had  been  committed,  and  upon  having  the 
evidence  that  some  person  was  implicated  in  the 
murder,  they  should  proceed  to  aid  and  assist  the 
authorities  of  Rhode-Island  in  having  the  subject 
properly  investigated,  and  in  prosecuting  it  to  a  final 
issue. " 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.        o7 

At  this  meeting  too,  another  and  larger  committee 
was  appointed  to  collect  and  report  to  the  first 
named  committee,  "  any  evidence  or  circumstance 
that  might  come  to  their  knowledge,  having  a  bear- 
ing upon  the  case. "  It  was  resolved  that  the  truth 
should,  if  possible,  be  elicited  in  this  search ;  and 
that  they  should  report  every  thing  of  a  favourable 
nature  respecting  the  accused,  as  well  as  that  which 
should  appear  unfavourable.  Another  meeting  was 
subsequently  held  to  make  provisions  for  defraying 
the  expenses  of  this  committee. 

It  is  said  by  the  friends  of  Avery  often,  that  he 
gave  a  manifest  proof  of  his  innocence  in  remaining 
in  Bristol  till  the  warrant  came,  and  not  fleeing  or 
shewing  any  difference  in  his  manners.  The  fact 
was,  that  he  did  not  know  anything  was  suspected 
of  him,  except  his  being  the  seducer  of  the  girl. 
Mr.  Bid  well,  to  whom  Doct.  Wilbour  had,  as  before 
mentioned,  related  the  conversations  of  the  deceased, 
had  proceeded  immediately  to  Bristol  and  commu- 
nicated with  Avery,  and  had  stated  to  him  he  was 
suspected  of  being  the  betrayer  of  the  hapless  girl. 
Avery  and  his  friends  got  Mr.  Bartlett,  the  stage 
driver,  and  a  Methodist  by  profession,  to  go  to  Fall 
River  and  see  how  matters  stood.  In  the  mean 
time,  Avery  kept  his  house,  walking  it,  as  was  said, 
in  a  state  of  very  great  agitation.  He  did  no  preach- 
ing that  day.  Bartlett  proceeded  to  Fall  River,  and 
went  in  search  of  Doct.  Wilbour,  who  was  from 
home,  visiting  a  patient.  He  followed  him,  and 
met  him  returning  not  far  from  his  house,  which 
they  entered  together.  Upon  going  into  the  house, 
the  Doctor  perceived  J.  Durfee  and  another  man 
from  Tiverton  waiting  for  him.  Aiding  Bartlett  in- 
to the  parlour,  he  went  out  to  see  them.     They  in- 


38 


FALL  RIVER, 


formed  the  Doctor  that  the  warrant  they  had  got 
was  informal,  and  that  it  had  been  decided  to  ap- 
prehend Avery ;  and  they  requested  him  to  go  over 
the  line  and  complain  of  him.  This  the  Doctor  re- 
fused to  do,  because  he  thought  it  was  not  his  busi- 
ness; "  but,"  observed  he,  "  if  he  is  not  apprehend- 
ed soon^  he  will  be  off.  'Here  is  Bartlett  in  the 
other  room  now,  come  to  see  how  the  business  stands ; 
and  he  will  not  get  out  of  the  place  without  finding 
out  he  is  suspected  of  the  murder."  One  of  the  gen- 
tlemen then  proposed  they  should  proceed  immedi- 
ately to  Bristol,  and  have  him  put  under  arrest  un- 
til the  succeeding  day,  when  a  proper  warrant  could 
be  procured  ;  and  begging  the  Doctor  to  keep  Bart- 
lett as  long  as  possible,  they  departed,  and  in  a  few 
moments  were  on  the  way  to  Bristol.  In  the  mean 
time,  the  Doctor  apologized  for  delaying  conversa- 
tion until  he  had  dined,  after  which  he  recounted 
the  particulars  of  his  conversation  with  the  deceased 
to  his  interrogator,  and  concluded  with  the  question, 
''  and  do  you  know  that  he  is  suspected  of  the  mur- 
der too?"  Amazed,  the  messenger  answerd,  "no:" 
upon  whrch  the  Doctor  assured  him  of  the  fact.  Of 
course,  he  did  not  wait  long  after  this,  but  hastened 
to  convey  the  alarming  intelligence  to  his  employer, 
[iowever,  long  before  his  arrival  at  Bristol,  his  friend 
and  brother  was  under  arrest. 

It  seems  scarcely  possible  Avery  could  have  re- 
frained from  preaching  on  that  day  merely  from  del- 
icacy, because  he  had  heard  it  was  suspected  he 
v/as  the  betrayer  of  the  deceased  girl,  when  he  thus 
perseveres  in  it  at  the  present  day.  However,  Bart- 
lett stated  he  was  then  very  much  disturbed  and 
distressed  in  mind  indeed,  and  that  "  he  did  not 
know  when  he  had  been  kept  from  the  house  of 
God  before." 


AN  auth::ntic  narrative.  39 

Nothing  was  done  hastily ;  the  jury  of  inquest 
were  very  slow  in  their  operations ;  and  it  was  not 
until  several  days  after  the  murder  that  Avery  was 
arrested  ;  and  he  probably  might  have  escaped  even 
that,  had  not  new  circumstances  continually  come 
up  calculated  to  strengthen  former  suspicions.  For 
instance,  the  other  piece  of  the  broken  comb  was 
found  on  the  same  back  route  to  Fall  River ;  fitted 
the  first  piece  with  which  she  was  buried,  and  both 
were  sworn  to  and  identified  as  hers  by  the  person 
who  mended  it  and  the  people  where  she  boarded, 
who,  with  the  persons  who  worked  next  to  her  in  the 
factory,  deposed  that  she  went  out  about  six  in  the 
evenincr  wdth  it  whole  ;  changed  her  dress  for  one 
better;  went  in  good  spirits;  and  was  exceedingly 
anxious  to  get  leave  to  go  out  at  the  hour  of  six  :  had 
spoken  of  an  appointment  several  days  before  to  the 
daughter  of  the  lady  where  she  boarded  ;  said  she 
"did  not  care  how  many  days  it  rained,  if  it  was  on- 
ly fair  on  that  day,"  20th  of  December ;  shewed  the 
pink  and  yellow  letter  which  were  afterwards  found 
in  her  trunk  to  this  young  lady,  who  identified  them ; 
the  white  one  also,  with  which  she  returned  from 
the  Post  Office,  on  the  8th  of  December.  The  lady 
did  not  read  the  inside,  but  looked  at  the  post  marks 
and  hand  writing  and  was  able  to  testify  to  them. 

Those  letters  corroborated  the  statement  made 
by  Doct.  Wilbour.  The  first  of  these  letters,  writ- 
ten on  yellow  paper,  was  dated,  Nov.  13th  1832,  and 
was  as  follows. 

"I  have  just  received  your  letter  v.'ith  no  small 
surprise,  and  will  say,  I  will  do  all  you  ask,  only 
keep  your  secrets.  I  wish  you  to  wTite  me  as  soon 
as  you  get  this,  naming  some  time  and  place  where 
I  shall  see  vou,  and  then  look   for  answer  before  I 


40  FALL  RIVER, 

come;  and  will  say  whether  convenient  ov  not,  and 
will  say  the  time.  I  Vvill  keep  your  letters  till  I  see 
you,  and  wisli  you  to  keep  mine,  and  have  them 
with  you  there  at  tlie  time.  Write  soon — say  noth- 
ing to  no  one.     Yours  in  haste.  " 

They  observed  that  he  says,  ."  I  have  just  received 
yours ; "  and  upon  examining  at  the  Post  Office, 
Fall  River,  it  was  found  there  was  one  letter  mailed 
for  Bristol  on  the  day  preceding  that  addressed  to 
S.  M.  Cornell,  viz.  on  the  12th.  But  who  it  was 
for  had  escaped  their  recollection,  if  they  observed 
at  the  time.  Again,  there  was  a  letter  on  pink  pa- 
per, addressed  to  the  deceased,  which  a  Mr.  Orswell, 
the  engineer  of  the  King  Philip,  (  a  steamboat  ply- 
ing between  Fall  River  and  Providence)  deposed  was 
given  him  by  Avery,  in  person,  to  deliver  to  Sarah 
Maria  Cornell,  near  the  last  of  November,  while  the 
four  days  meeting  was  holding  "  among  the  Metho- 
dists at  Providence.  This  letter  too  appeared  to  be 
in  answer  to  one  written  not  long  before ;  and  on 
the  I9th  of  November  the  Post  Master  recollected 
that  on  that  day,  while  making  up  the  mail,  he 
heard  something  drop  into  the  letter  box  after  he  had 
cleared  it ;  and  upon  looking,  saw  two  letters,  one 
for  Bristol  and  one  directed  to  Mr.  Rawson,  brother 
in  law  of  the  deceased,  South  Woodstock.  This  let- 
ter was  afterwards  produced  by  Mr.  Rawson.  His 
impression  was,  the  other  was  directed  to  Avery ; 
remembered  distinctly  it  v/as  for  Bristol :  and  as  it 
was  ascertained  he  was  correct  about  the  first  name, 
the  committee  could  have  no  doubt  about  the  other. 

But  so  extremely  cautious  vrere  they  to  go  upon 
facts,  that  they  delayed  their  proceedings  until  Ors- 
well went  up  the  river  and  saw  Avery,  to  ascertain 
to  a  certainty,  whether  he  would  recognize  the  man 


AN  AUTHENTIC  .\AKRATIVE.        41 

who  gave  him  the  letter  for  that  person.  This  let- 
ter, the  one  mentioned  when  speaking  of  her  com- 
munications, to  Doct.  Wilbour,  was  as  follows. 

Providence,  Nov.  1SS2. 
"  Dear  Sister — I  received  your  letter  in  due  yea- 
son  and  should  have  answered  it  before  now  but  i 
thought  i  would  wait  till  this  opportunity — as  i  told 
you  i  am  willing  to  help  you  and  do  for  yon  as  cir- 
cumstrnces  are  i  should  rather  you  would  come  to 
this  place,  Viz  Bristol  on  the  ISth  of  December, 
and  stop  at  the  Hotel  and  stay  till  six  in  the  evening 
and  then  go  directly  up  across  the  main  street  to  the 
brick  building  near  to  the  stone  meeting  house  where 
i  will  meet  you  and  talk  vvith  you — when  you  come 
to  the  Tavern  either  enquire  for  work  or  go  out  in 
the  street  on  pretence  of  looking  for  some  or  some- 
thing else  and  I  may  see  you — say  nothing  about  me 
or  my  family — should  it  storm  on  the  18th  come  on 
the'20th  if  you  cannot  come  audit  will  be  more  con- 
venient to  meet  ine  at  the  Methodist  meeting  house 
in  Somcrsett  just  over  the  ferry  on  either  of  the 
above  evenings  I  will  meet  you  there  at  the  same 
time  or  if  you  cannot  do  either  i  u'ill  come  to  Fall 
river  on  one  of  the  above  evenings  back  of  the  same 
meeting  house  where  I  once  saw  you — at  any  hour 
you  say  on  either  of  the  above  evenings  when  there 
wall  be  the  least  passing  i  should  think  before  the 
mill  stops  work — this  i  will  leave  with  you  if  i  come 
will  come  if  it  does  not  storm  very  hard — if  it  does 
the  first  i  wdll  come  the  second  write  me  soon  and 
tell  me  w-hich — when  you  w^-ite  direct  your  letters 
to  Betsy  Hill  and  not  as  you  have  done  to  me  rr- 
member  this  your  last  letter  I  am  afraid  was  broken 
open. 


42  FALL  RIVER, 

ware  your  calash  not  your  plain  bonnet  you  can 
send  your  letter  by  mail  Yours  6lc.  B  H 
SMC. 

let  me  still  injoin   the  secret — keep  the  letters 
in  your  bosom  or  burn  them  up.  " 

The  white  letter  found  in  her  possession,  marked 
one  cent  postage,  was  as  follows. 

Tall  River  Dec  Sth 
"  I  will   be  here  on  the  20th  if  pleasant   at  the 
place  named  at  6  o'clock  if  not  pleasant  the  next 
monday  eve. — say  nothing.  " 

With  respect  to  this  last,  final,  and  fatal  letter, 
upon  examination,  it  was  ascertained  that  Avery 
had  been  at  Fall  River  on  that  very  day ;  had  been 
heard  asking  for  paper  in  a  store  kept  by  a  member 
of  the  Methodist  meeting  ;  and  that  that  man  went 
iuto  the  next  store  to  get  a  v^-afer  for  him :  could  not 
recollect  whether  he  wrote  in  the  store,  but  remem- 
bered hearing  him  talk  about  writing  to  the  editor 
of  a  paper  in  the  village,  (  whom,  upon  enquiry,  he 
did  not  write  to.  )  From  thence  he  went  in  the  di- 
rection of  the  Post  Office,  and  the  deputy  post  mas- 
ter recollected,  a  few  moments  before  the  stage  start- 
ed for  Bristol,  in  which  he  vvent,  hearing  a  letter 
drop  :  and  looking  at  the  moment  saw  Avery  just 
withdrawing  his  hand  from  the  box.  He  then  look- 
ed, and  took  out  the  one  cent  letter  addressed  to 
S.  M.  Cornell,  when  the  wafer  was  wet.  That  wa- 
fer was  recollected  as  the  one  supplied  by  the  lady 
next  door  to  the  store  where  the  paper  was  supposed 
to  be  procured — remembered  from  its  peculiar  col- 
our. 

The  first  letter,  the  yellow  one,  was  post  marked 


AN  AUTHE.MIC  NARRATIVE.  43 

at  Warren;  and  on  that  day  it  was  ascertained  the 
accused  had  been  there. 

The  other  letter  was  written  by  Sarah  Maria 
herself,  and  directed  to  her  minister,  Mr.  Bidwell. 
It  expressed  much  compunction  for  her  sins,  con- 
fessed herself  unworthy  of  a  place  in  the  meeting, 
and  requested  to  be  set  aside  as  unworthy,  &c. 

With  all  these  concurring  circumstances  before 
them,  it  is  most  evident  the  committee  could 
not,  in  conscience,  take  any  other  course  than 
the  one  they  did  take.  Now  previous  to  the 
arrest,  when  the  suspicions  of  the  murder  were 
first  excited  at  Fall  River,  his  friends  (  Avery's  ) 
consoled  themselves  w^ith  the  assurance  that  Avery 
would  be  able  to  prove  where  lie  w^as  at  the  time  of 
the  murder  ;  and  it  being  a  very  cold  blustering  day 
until  towards  night,  they  had  little  doubt  it  would 
be  found  he  was  at  his  ov/n  houex?.  What  tlien  was 
their  consternation  to  find,  upon  enquiry,  that  he 
had  actually  crossed  the  ferry,  at  Bristol,  on  the  ai- 
ternoon  of  that  very  day,  and  after  being  absent  on 
the  island  until  a  very  late  hour  in  the  evening  had 
gone  back  to  the  ferry-house  requesting  to  be  set 
over,  which  Mr.  GifTord,  the  ferryman,  declined  do- 
ing on  account  of  the  lateness  of  the  hour  and  tedi- 
ousnessofthe  weather.  There  had  been  a  rough 
wind  for  most  part  of  the  day,  and  generally  in  that 
place  there  is  a  considerable  swell  for  some  time  af- 
ter. 

Still,  the  friends  of  Mr.  Avery  kept  up  a  good 
courage,  for  they  felt  morally  certain  that  being  in 
amethodist  neighbourhood  near  so  many  friends  and 
acquaintance  he  could  easily  be  recognized,  and 
would  undoubtedly  bring  proof  of  where  he  was. 
But  when  after  the  examination  at  Bristal,  it  was 


44  FALL  RIVER, 

found  that  he  could  not  bring  a  single  individual 
who  even  thought  they  saw  him  on  the  rout  he  de- 
scribed himself  to  have  taken,  many  who  had  trust 
in  him  before  fell  off.  He  observed  he  had  been  on 
a  walk  of  pleasure  and  observation,  walking  about 
the  Island  towards  the  coal  mines,  near  the  Union 
Meeting-house,  &c.  &c.  past  brother  such  a  one  and 
sister  'tother  one,  crossed  a  brook,  went  through  a 
white  gate,  saw  a  *'  man  with  a  gun,  and  a  boy  with 
t^ome  sheep,"  and  finally  wandered  back  to  the  fer- 
ry soraev/here  about  ten  o'clock,  of  a  cold  Decehi- 
ber  night,  without  any  supper  or  appealing  to  think 
of  any  I  (though  travelling  ministers  are  not  apt  to 
forget  such  accommodation^.)  No  man  with  a  gun,  or 
boy  with  sheep,  could  be  heard  of  in  that  part  of  the 
country  from  any  body  but  himself,  and  no  one  saw 
him,  through  all  that  route:  nevertheless  the  justices 
appointed  to  examine  him  at  Bristol,  after  what  they 
declared  to  be  a  "patient,  laborious  and  impartial 
examination  of  the  subject,"  discharged  him.  The 
county  of  Newport  claimed  him  as  their  prisoner  in 
the  first  place,  and  it  was  not  a  legal  examination, 
because  the  offence  alleged  against  him  was  perpe- 
trated in  that  county.  But  his  friends  were  deter- 
mined to  have  his  examination  there,  and  they  had 
it.  By  this  illegal  and  ill  judged  proceeding  the  State 
was  put  to  the  expense  of  another  examination,  be- 
sides some  much  more  heavy  ones.  The  inhabitants 
of  Fall  River  called  another  meeting  and  entered 
complaint  to  a  magistrate  in  the  county  of  Newport. 
A  warrant  was  issued  and  a  sheriff  sent  once  more 
to  take  him. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Upon  arriving  at  Bristol,  the  shcriif  found  the 
prisoner  had  fled.  Thirteen  days  liad  been  spent 
in  his  examination,  during  which  time  he  appeared 
so  firm  and  unmoved  for  the  most  part  that  it  was 
thought  there  was  no  danger  of  his  decamping.  He 
had  fled  however,  and  left  his  character  to  take  care 
of  itself.  Those  who  believed  him  innocent,  had 
thought  he  would  court  a  trial  in  order  to  free  hmi- 
self  from  the  odium  attached  to  him,  which  unless 
wiped  off"  they  knew  must  forever  destroy  his  useful- 
ness as  a  minester  of  the  gospel ;  but  when  they 
found  he  had  decamped  and  left  his  friends  and  par- 
tizans  to  fight  it  out  in  the  best  manner  they  were 
able,  they  were  confounded,  but  for  the  most  part 
wise  enough  to  keep  still ;  and  had  he  never  been 
found,  as  most  people  believed  he  never  would,  it  is 
probable  the  point  would  have  been  conceded.  But 
he  was  gone  :  and  Col.  Ilarnden,  the  person  who 
went  in  persuit  of  him,  was  almost  at  a  loss  to  know 
what  to  do.  There  seemed  no  trace  of  him  to  be 
discovered.  But  although  the  person  of  the  accused 
appeared  to  be  beyond  their  reach,  his  character 
was  not;  and  this  flight,  disgraceful  and  unmanly 
as  it  was,  put  the  finishing  seal  to  it. 

Matters  seemed  so  well  arranged  with  respect  to 
the  reverend  fugitive,  that  it  would  have  puzzled 
wise  heads  to  have  known  which  way  to  look  for  him. 
But  the  indefatigable  Col.  Harnden  was  not  to  be 
daunted  or  disheartened  in  the  cause  he  had  under- 
taken.    He  had  been  one  of  the  committee  appoint- 


46  FALL  RIVER, 

ed  to  examine  into  this  affair  by  the  inhabitants  of 
Fall  River,  and  had  satisfied  himself  that  the  accu- 
sed ought  at  whatever  cost  to  be  brought  to  trial. 
He  therefore  commenced  a  most  laborious  and  ar- 
duous search,  and  after  traversing  hundreds  of  miles 
backwards  and  forwards,  in  three  States,  having  as 
he  believed  got  on  a  track  of  him,  he  finally  suc- 
ceeded in  his  search,  finding  him  in  a  remote  neigh- 
bourhood in  New-Hampshire,  at  the  house  of  a  Mr. 
Mayo.  He  was  indebted  at  last  to  the  sagacity  of 
a  baker's  boy,  who  related  a  story  of  Mrs.  Mayo 
beiiPg  accused  of  some  misdemeanor  in  the  meeting, 
and  Avery  being  sent  for  to  plead  her  off,  which  he 
succeeded  in  doing,  and  saved  her  from  the  cen- 
sures of  the  meeting— an  evil  of  no  ordinary  char- 
acter, if  we  may  judge  from  themanner  of  handling 
the  character  of  the  deceased — and  the  lad  think- 
ing according  to  the  old  saying  that  one  good  turn 
deserved  another,  thought  it  must  be  he  was  con- 
cealed at  that  house.  Upon  arriving  at  the  house, 
Mr.  Mayo  denied  his  being  there,  but  observing  his 
wife  glide  out  of  the  room,  Mr.  Harnden  followed 
her,  and  found  Avery  hid,  pale  and  trembling  be- 
hind the  door  of  a  chamber,  evidently  fitted  up  for 
his  concealment,  having  the  windows  completely 
darkened,  with  lights  and  fire  wood  laid  in,  and  all 
the  comforts  of  life  in  abundance  bore  witness  to 
the  gratitude  of  her  who  held  him  in  such  gen- 
tle durance :  pity  that  such  comfortable  quarters 
should  have  been  disturbed  by  the  intrusion  of  such 
unwelcome  guests.  Mr.  Harnden  returned  with 
liim  through  Boston,  where,  as  in  several  other 
places,  he,  like  other  great  characters,  received  the 
falls  of  his  friends,  the  Methodists  ;  Divines  and  all 
Hocking  to  pay  their  respects — giving  him  the  right 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.  47 

baud  of  fellowship,  &c.  and  having  several  "  com- 
fortable seasons  of  prayer,"*  &c.  with  a  man  then 
laboring  under  the  strongest  presumption  of  being 
both  an  adulterer  and  murderer — of  a  man  caught 
in  the  very  act  of  hiding  himself  from  the  ministers 
of  justice.  '*0  tempora  !  O  mores  !" 
'  The  authorities  of  the  county  of  Newport,  after 
examination,  bound  him  for  trial  and  he  was  indicted 
for  murder  by  the  grand  jury,  and  the  first  Monday 
in  May  assigned  for  his  trial.  The  interval  between 
the  March  term  of  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court  for 
the  county  of  Newport,  and  the  first  Monday  in  Mav^ 
was  a  busy  one  ;  scouts  were  out  in  all  directions, 
and  oh  the  racing  and  chasing  there  was  to  look  up 
witnesses.  Turnpike  corporations  and  tavern  keep- 
ers reaped  a  golden  harvest  during  those  two  months. 
There  was  scarcely  a  factory  village  within  a  hun- 
dred and  fifty  miles  but  what  underwent  a  thorough 
examination.  The  deceased  it  appeared,  had  been 
a  moving  planet,  which  she  accounted  for  in  one  of 
her  letters  to  her  friends,  by  saying,  "  she  belonged 
to  a  people  who  did  not  believe  in  staying  long  in 
a  place."  She  seemed  to  have  adopted  for  her  mot- 
to, the  text,  that  "  here  we  have  no  continuing  city;" 
and  she  adhered  to  it  in  the  spirit  and  the  letter. 
Poor  unfortunate  being  !  she  did  not  realize  the 
danger  of  changing  neighborhoods  so  often,  nor 
know  that  it  was  safest  for  people  to  stay  where  they 
are  bestknown,  and  where  slanderers  make  out  to 
live  upon  one  old  story  for  a  thousand  years,  but  tran- 
sport it  into  a  new  neighborhood  and  ten  thousand 
will  immediately  be  added  to  it.     She  probably  had 

*Who  can  wonder  that  iiifideli?  should  be  strengthened  by  such 
things  as  ihesel  what  a  farce  d<ie8  even  christiau  worship  appear 
when  prostituted  to  secular  purposes. 


48        .  FALL    RIVER, 

never  read  tliat  admirable  fable  of  the  Fox,  who  was 
advised  to  remove  on  account  of  the  swarm  of  flies 
who  beset  him,  and  who  wisely  chose  to  remain 
where  they  might  after  a  time  get  gorged  with  his 
blood,  rather  than  to  encounter  a  fresh  and  hungry 
set,  when  he  should  be  robbed  of  every  remaining 
drop  of  it. 

In  the  mean  time  public  indignation  could  not 
wait  with  patience  for   the   issue  of  the  trial,  and 
from  time  to  time  it  would  speak  out  through  the 
medium  of  the  papers.     This  the  methodists  termed 
"persecution,"  whatever  it  was   it  is  certain  that 
Mch  of  it  was  provoked  by  their  oun  imprudence 
jtt    continually  and  loudly  asserting  his  innocence, 
and  the  violence  with  which  they  endeavored   to 
bear  down  public  opinion,  as  well  as  their  ridiculous 
fidgetting   about  the  safety  of  his  pereon,  and  his 
personal   accommodation,  through  all  the  stages  of 
his  travels.    Had  Avery  constituted  solely  in  his  per- 
son the  palladium  of  their   rights,   they   could  not 
have  guarded    him  with  more  jealous  care.     They 
pretended   to  discover  in   the  natural   curiosity  of 
the  populace  to  see  one  who  had  become  the  lion  of 
the  day,  a  conspiracy  to  mob  him  ;  and  at  once  took 
the  responsibility  of  his  flight  upon  their  own  shoul- 
ders, averring  it  to  have  originated  in  their  fears  for 
his  person,  and  expressing  terrible  apprehension  lest 
the  Fall  Rirer  folks  should  take  justice   into  their 
own  hands  instead  of  waiting  for  the  slow   remedy 
of  the  law.     The  disgrace  of  flying   from  the  per- 
suit  of  justice,  they  affirmed  belonged  to  them,  hav- 
ing as  they  said  persuaded   him  off  and    conveyed 
him  to  a  secret  place,   against  his  own   judgment. 
This  last  assertion  may  well  be   believed,  viz.   that 
"  it  was  against  his  own  judgment; "  as  that,  if  he 


AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.  49 

had  any,  must  have  told  him  that  his  flight,  under 
such  circumstances,  amounted  to  a  strong  presunip- 
tion,  if  not  to  a  confession  of  guilt.  That  he  had 
fears  cannot  be  doubted  :  he  might  have  been  in 
the  situation  of  Trumbull's  hero, 

"  Who  found  his  fear  of  tar  and  ropes, 
By  many  a  drachm  outweigh  his  liopes.  " 

Their  fears  however  of  the  vengeance  of  the 
*'  Fall  River  folks"  were  entirely  without  foundation, 
since  nothing  was  intended  but  to  bring  the  accused 
to  a  fair  trial,  and  if  his  friends  knew  of  such  re- 
sources as  they  boasted  of,  they  ought  to  have  beeu 
the  last  to  be  afraid  of  that.  But  the  important  sixth 
of  May  arrived,  and  headed  by  an  army  of  preach- 
ers, stout  muscular  men  as  evor  took  the  field,  fol- 
lowed by  a  company  of  women  as  a  "  corps  de 
reserve" — and  flanked  by  a  hundred  and  sixty  wit- 
nesses— the  force  of  the  prisoner  made  its  appear- 
ance. Newport  swarmed  with  people  of  every  de- 
nomination— curiosity  was  on  tiptoe.  There  was  a 
deep  anxiety  that  truth  should  be  brought  to  light 
by  the  friends  of  justice  and  humanity — and  a  rest- 
less and  watchful  one  with  others,  to  prevent  if  pos- 
sible its  developement. 

The  trial  came  on,  and  the  prisoner  was  produced. 
He  was  a  middle  aged  man,  tall,  and  of  very  stout 
frame,  and  a  face  that  might  have  passed  for  good 
looking,  had  not  a  certain  iron  look,  a  pair  of  very 
thick  lips,  and  a  most  unpleasant  stare  of  the  eyes, 
have  taken  much  from  the  agreeable ;  however  it 
was  agreed  on  all  hands  that  notwithstanding  these 
blemishes,  he  would  almost  any  where  pass  for  a 
tolerable  good  looking  man,  and  moreover  "looked 
like  no  fool ;"  or  to  use  the  language  of  the  specta- 


50  FALL  RIVER. 

lord,  "  looked  as  though  he  knew  more  than  he  told 
for."  He  ».vas  charged  with  three  counts  in  the  in- 
dictment. First — "  for  choaking  and  strangling  the 
deceased."  Secondly,  "  for  tying  her  to  a  stake," 
and  thirdly,  inflicting  various  wounds  and  bruises 
on  the  deceased,  calculated  to  cause  death ;  or  at 
least  that  must  have  been  their  meaning,  though  it 
was  worded  in  the  indictment,  "of  which  she  in- 
stantly died,"  but  as  no  person  could  die  twice,  we 
presume  this  must  have  been  the  meaning.  The 
prisoner  of  course  plead  "  not  guilty."  The  difficul- 
ties experienced  in  the  formation  of  a  jury  were 
greater,  it  is  believed,  than  were  ever  known  before 
in  any  court  in  the  United  States,  so  strong  was  the 
presumption  of  the  prisoner's  guilt  that  it  seemed  al- 
most impossible  to  find  a  man  who  had  not  made  up 
his  mind,  and  this  mind  was  pretty  rudely  and  une- 
quivocally expressed  by  all  on  the  spot :  some  few  de- 
clared their  fpelings  to  be  perfectly  neutral,  but  one 
only  solitary  instance  could  be  found  of  a  man  who 
said  he  had  formed  an  opinion  rather  favourable  to 
the  prisoner;  and  it  was  not  until  after  one  hundred 
and  eight  were  challenged  that  a  jury  could  be  found: 
the  difficulty  was  materially  increased  by  the  prison- 
er's counsel,  who  in  this  as  well  as  in  every  part  of 
the  trial  seemed  determined  to  carry  every  point  by 
what  is  called  management,  and  who  fought  the 
ground  inch  by  incli — with  so  little  apparent  rev- 
erence to  the  authorities  of  the  law  that  many  a  na- 
tive of  Rhode-Island  blushed  to  hear  the  highest 
court  Vn  his  state  dictated  to  thus  by  a  Boston  law- 
yer. 

As  there  are  many,  probably,  who  read  this,  who 
have  never  read  the  trial  and  never  will,  and  some 
who  will  not  even  permit  that  document  to  come  into 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.  51 

tlieir  houses,  we  simll  endeavour  to  give  a  nummary 
of  the  evidence,  tliough  in  a  very  brief  and  perhaps 
superficial  maniser;  without  going  into  the  whole  re- 
volting particulars. 

First  then,  the  case  was  stated  in  a  clear  light,  by 
D.  J.  Pierce,  Esq.  of  Newport,  the  witnesses  were 
then  sworn.  The  fact  of  the  death  of  S.  M.  Cornel] 
was  then  proved,  and  of  her  appearance  when  found, 
as  presumptive  evidence  she  could  not  have  hung  her- 
self, that  she  was  taken  down  v.^ith  the  utmost  care, 
rolled  in  a  blanket  and  laid  on  straw  in  a  horse  wa- 
gon, and  carried  over  a  smooth  road  to  the  dwelling 
of  Mr.  Diirfee,  so  that  none  of  tlie  bruises  could  have 
been  inflicted  after  death.  Here  followed  the  testi- 
mony of  the  women  who  laid  her  out,  and  of  the  phy- 
sician who  examined  her,  the  first  and  second  time, 
for  she  was  disinterred  the  second  time  on  the  25th 
of  January,  when  a  more  complete  examination  w^as 
had  :  this  to  be  sure  was  nearly  or  quite  a  month  af- 
ter her  interment,  but  it  was  in  the  coldest  part 
of  the  year  :  she  had  been  laid  in  a  dry  and  marly 
soil,  was  frozen  when  she  was  buried,  and  the  earth 
frozen  that  was  throv»n  upon  her,  and  the  physician 
deposed  that  there  was  little  alteration  in  her  from 
the  first  examination.  Every  succeedinij  one  brouo[ht 
to  light  new  barbarities,  and  imagination  sickens 
at  the  idea  of  the  cruel  butchery  which  this  most  un- 
fortunate girl  must  have  undergone,  previous  to  her 
being  strangled.  No  person  could  hear  them  un- 
moved :  the  very  judges,  though  used  to  the  deline- 
ation of  crime,  and  pictures  of  violence,  wept  upon 
the  bench  ;  yea  wept  like  children,  at  the  description 
of  her  mangled  person.  We  question  whether  the 
mere  bodily  sufferings  of  any  one  woman  ever  crea- 
ted such  excitement,  since  the  death  of  her  whom 


52  FALL    RIVER, 

the  Levite  cut  in  pieces  and  sent  to  all  the  coasts  of 
Isre^I,  which  caused  the  death  of  more  than  forty 
thousand  persons,  and  the  extermination  of  a  tribe.* 

The  circumstances  of  the  letters  were  sworn  to, 
and  half  a  sheet  of  paper  found  in  the  store  where 
the  letter  of  the  8th  of  December  was  supposed  to  be 
written,  which  exactly  m.atched  the  one  of  the  letter, 
both  the  water  mark  and  even  the  very  fibres  of  the 
paper. 

It  was  proved  that  the  prisoner  left  his  home  on 
the  20th  of  December,  without  any  good  reason, 
without  informing  his  family  where  he  was  going  or 
assigning  any  excuse  for  absenting  himself,  that  he 
had  refused  an  invitation  for  that  day  to  visit  a  Me- 
thodist lady,  without  giving  any  reason ;  that  no 
person  had  been  seen  on  the  route  he  pretended  to 
have  taken  en  that  afternoon;  but  that  a  man  an- 
swering his  description  exactly  was  traced  step  by 
step  all  the  way  to  Fall  River,  even  to  the  very 
stack  yard.  One  man,  Mr.  Cranston,  at  Rowland's 
ferry  bridge,  swore  to  his  identity.  Mr.  Lawton, 
the  man  on  the  Tiverton  side,  remembered  a  person 
of  his  exact  description  passing  at  the  same  hour, 
three  o'clock.  Mr.  Durfee  had  been  blowing  rocks 
quite  near  the  stack  yard,  and  saw  a  man  standing, 
and  looking  about  with  his  back  towards  him.  Ab- 
ner  Davis,  at  work  there,  saw  the  same  man  sitting 
on  the  wall,  and  upon  his  proceeding  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  rock  where  they  had  just  laid  a  train  of 
powder  (the  direction  of  Fall  River)  called  out  to 
him,  when  he  stopped.  Both  of  their  descriptions 
of  clothes,  person,  &c.  agreed  with  that  of  Avery, 

*  What  mighty  despotism,  what  scheme  of  bondage,  what  film 
of  ignorance  and  fanaticism,  what  system  of  ecclesiastical  tyranny,, 
may  not  the  death  of  this  woman  be  intended  to  break'? 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.  53 

and  upon  seeing  him  they  felt  convinced  he  was  the 
person,  but  as  they  did  not  see  his  face,  couM  not 
swear  to  his  identity.  William  Hamilton  pas-sing 
this  spot  about  a  quarter  before  nine  in  the  evening, 
heard  sounds  as  of  stifled  groans  of  some  female  in 
distress.  The  sounds  appeared  to  proceed  from  the 
spot  where  the  first  piece  of  comb  was  found.  lie 
rose  the  hill  and  stopped,  when,  hearing  nothing 
more,  went  on.  One  EUinor  Owen,  who  lived  with- 
in sight  of  the  place,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  distant, 
testified  to  hearing  screecliiugs  from  that  direction 
at  half  past  seven  in  the  evening.  The  cord  was 
identified  as  belonging  to  some  bags  that  lay  in  a  cart 
of  Mr.  Durfee's  within  a  few  rods.  A  man  answer- 
ing his  description  went  into  the  back  room  of  Law- 
ton's  hotel,  early  in  the  evening  on  that  day,  and  had 
a  glass  of  brandy  carried  in.  They  did  not  know 
Avery,  but  upon  seeing  him,  believed  him  to  be  the 
same  person.  Some  person  passed  round  the  toll 
gate,  at  Rowland's  ferry,  in  returning,  after  it  was 
closed,  (after  nine  o'clock)  by  the  beach.  Their 
tracks  were  seen  on  the  sand,  where  the  water  effa- 
ces any  print  once  in  twelve  hours.  The  gate-keeper 
looked  in  the  morning  and  ascertained  some  one  liud 
passed.  He  returned  to  Gilford's,  at  the  ferry,  lata 
at  night,  about  a  quarter  before  ten,  and  said  he  had 
been  on  the  island,  on  business  ;  and  to  the  ques- 
tion of  the  ferryman's  daughter,  if  he  *'had  a  mee- 
ting that  evening?  "  he  returned  for  answer,  he  had 
not,  but  had  "  been  on  business  to  brother  Cook's.  " 
Nothing  perhaps  through  the  whole  proceedings 
of  the  trial,  examination,  &c.  gave  more  offence  to 
the  feelings  of  the  public  than  the  reckless  disre- 
gard to  character  shewn  by  the  prisoner  and  his 
friends  in  impeaching  w^itnesses.     This  last  men- 


r54  FALL  RIVER. 

tioned  witnf^ss,  Miss  Jane  Gifford,  was  a  young  lady 
about  eighteen  years  of  age,  of  fair  character  it  is 
believed  as  any  other  in  the  country :  she  had  been 
a  member  of  the  Methodist  class,  and  previous  to 
this  no  one  heard  any  thing  to  her  discredit,  but 
on  this  occasion  they  brought  witnesses  to  swear 
"  her  character  was  not  good  for  truth  and  vera- 
city," though  upon  cross  examination  they  were 
obliged  to  acknowledge  "they  had  never  heard  any 
thing  to  her  disadvantage  previous  to  the  Bristol 
examination."  Several  very  respectable  persons 
in  the  neighbourhood  testified  to  her  good  char- 
acter, among  the  rest  Judge  Childs,  who  had 
"  known  the  girl  from  infancy."  They  first  spoke 
against  her  at  the  examination  at  Bristol,  where 
she  deposed  to  the  fact.  Another  instance  of  this 
barbarity  occurred  at  Bristol,  whence  it  seemed  an 
object  to  prove  that  S.  M.  Cornell  was  a  wander- 
er and  interloper  at  the  camp  meeting  in  Thomp- 
son :  it  was  there  mentioned  she  was  seen  witl]  a 
Miss  Rebecca  Burk  of  Providence,  and  by  her 
introduced  to  one  or  two  methodists.  Rev.  Mr. 
Merrill  was  asked  if  she  was  not  a  leading  mem- 
ber of  their  meeting?  "No,"  he  answered,  "she 
was  not  a  leading  member  there,  that  she  had 
been  set  aside  for  impudence,  and  imprudence  of 
conduct,"  or  something  like  diat,  when  the  fact 
was  that  this  same  woman  had  been  considered 
as  a  leading  member  in  that  society  for  more 
than  twenty  years,  that  she  had  been  of  great  ser- 
vice in  the  cause  of  methodism  in  Providence 
particularly,  and  it  is  believed  by  many  has  done 
more  towards  building  up  the  Methodist  society  in 
that  town  than  any  three  persons  who  could  be 
named,  that  she  has  given  liberally   of  her    sub- 


a:\  authentic"  narrative.      bB 

?;tance  towards  tlie  support  of  their  meetings,  though 
obliged  to  labor  with  her  hands  for  her  own  support. 
The  only  thing  they  could  have  said,  and  that  if 
fairly  explained  would  have  done  her  no  harm,  was 
some  little  disagreement  between  some  of  the  mem- 
bers, of  whom  she  was  one,  some  time  previous, 
wherein  they  were  all  what  they  call  "put  back," 
for  six'  months,  and  at  the  end  of  that  time  restored, 
and  every  thing  went  on  as  before  ;*  but  there  was 
nothing  to  affect  her  character.  The  words  "  im- 
pudence" and  "  imprudence"  are  generally  under- 
stood to  mean  a  great  deal.  But  we  are  digressing. 
Mr.  Orswell,  the  engineer  of  the  King  Philip, 
gave  a  very  clear  and  comprehensive  evidence  with 
respect  to  the  delivery  of  the  pink  letter,  by  Avery, 
in  Providence — "  that  he  received  it  from  the  hands 
of  Avery  himself  in  person,  who  gave  it  to  him  be- 
tween the  hours  of  8  and  9,  or  a  little  past  i),  in 
the  morning — that  he  received  it  with  an  express  in- 
junction to  have  it  delivered  as  soon  as  the  boat  ar- 
rived, and  gave  him  nine  pence  for  carrying  it — that 
he  did  not  know  Avery  then,  but  went  up  to  Bris- 
tol to  see  him,  and  recognised  him  at  once,  at  his 
(Avery's)  house,  and  to  his  anxious  inquiries  of 
"  what  he  meant  to  swear?"  he  replied,  "  that  to  the 
best  of  his  knowledge  and  belief  he  was  the  per- 
son." Avery  then  put  on  his  spectacles  and  asked 
him  if  he  looked  like  him,  and  then  turning  to  his 
friends  asked  them  "  if  he  ever  went  out  without 
spectacles?"  No  notice  appeared  to  be  taken  of 
this  in  court  which  was  singular,  as  all  the  witnesses 

*  It  i?  said  to  I"*  their  rule,  uhprc  people  dispute,  to  comppl 
them  to  live  in  harmony.  If  po  it  is  a  f,'ood  rule  at  any  rate. 
People  cannot  always  pee  alike,  but  they  can  refrain  from  dispu- 
ting on  their  difterenres. 


66  ■  FALL    RIVER. 

who  saw  him  when  he  crossed  the  ferry  (Mr.  Pearce, 
Mr.  Gifford,  &c.)  attest  to  his  being  without  spec- 
tacles. It  certainly  amounted  to  proof  positive  of 
his  artifice  and  dissimulation.  He  did  in  general, 
and  for  all  that  is  known  to  the  contrary,  invaria- 
bly wear  his  spectacles  on  going  out,  except  this 
once,  and  on  the  fatal  20th  of  Dec.  What  could 
possibly  be  his  motive  for  going  on  those  two  occa- 
sions without  them,  unless  it  was  to  disguise  him- 
self? Mr.  Orswell  did  not  positively  swear  to  the 
day  the  letter  was  delivered  him,  but  thought  it  was 
on  Thursday.  The  letter  was  identified  as  the  one 
he  received,  by  the  marks  of  his  fingers  which  were 
smutty  and  oily  at  the  time,  and  he  recollected  the 
manner. 

With  respect  to  the  Camp  Meeting,  the  source 
and  origin,  as  she  asserted,  of  her  misfortunes,  it 
was  stated  by  a  Mr.  Paine,  the  young  gentleman 
who  carried  her  there  at  the  request  of  her  brother- 
in-law,  "  that  he  had  seen  her  at  various  times  dur- 
ing the  summer,  at  the  shop  where  she  worked,  v/hile 
there,  and  that  her  conduct  always  appeared  be- 
coming and  proper,  and  that  he  neither  knew  or 
suspected  or  heard  of  any  impropriety  in  her." 

The  sister  of  the  deceased  stated  that  she  (S.  M. 
Cornell)  returned  from  the  Camp  Meeting  to  her 
house,  with  a  young  man,  an  apprentice  of  theirs, 
Mr.  Saunders  ;  and  that  in  September  she  confess- 
ed her  fears  of  her  situation  to  her,  acknowledging 
her  connexion  with  Avery  at  the  Camp  Meeting. 
The  sister  also  swore  to  the  fact  that  Sarah  M.  Cor- 
nell was  free  from  any  such  embarrassment  previous 
to  that  meeting.  This  was  also  sworn  to  by  a  Miss 
Lawton,  a  very  respectable  young  woman  in  the 
family  at  the  time,  and  who  was  her  bed-fellow. 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.        57 

The  brother-in-law  of  the  deceased  also  testified 
to  this  confidence  placed  in  himself  and  wife,  and 
being  troubled  about  it,  he  consulted  his  minister, 
Rev.  Mr.  Cornell,  and  a  lawyer,  and  that  they  both 
advised  her  removal  to  Rhode-Island.  And  further, 
both  stated  they  never  had  the  least  reason  to  sup- 
pose she  meditated  self-destruction.  That  she  had 
never,  notwithstanding  what  had  past,  spoken  re- 
proachfully of  Avery,  but  always  mildly  ;  and  that 
her  conduct  at  their  house  was  perfectly  proper." 

Mr.  Saunders,  the  young  man  mentioned,  gave 
his  testimony  to  the  bringing  of  her  from  Camp 
Meeting — her  behaviour  perfectly  proper,  &c.  in 
answer  to  the  questions  asked,  and  to  his  having 
put  letters  in  the  postoffice  for  her  several  times. 
''  Were  any  of  them  directed  to  Bristol  V  it  was 
asked.  "  Yes."  "  Were  the  letters  sent  to  Bristol 
before  or  after  the  Camp  Meeting?"  "Before." 
Before  was  the  answer,  and  by  what  strange  over- 
sight this  witness  was  not  even  interrogated  we  can- 
not tell;  why  after  an  answer  that  promised  to  them 
so  much  light  on  the  subject,  it  was  pressed  no  fur- 
ther is  beyond  conjecture.  Many  people  previous  to 
this  had  formed  the  conclusion  that  *'  Marmion  and 
she  were  friends  of  old."  And  that  the  betrayer  had 
connived  at  her  expulsion  from  the  meeting,  in  or- 
der to  conceal  his  ovvn  villany  the  better,  and  they 
thought  they  saw  in  this  testimony  of  the  correspon- 
dence with  Bristol  previous  to  the  Camp  Meeting  a 
confirmation  of  their  suspicions,  that  the  interview 
with  Avery  at  that  meeting  was  concerted  by  letter  : 
they  therefore  eagerly  looked  to  see  the  witness  fur- 
ther interrogated,  but  no  such  interrogation  took 
place.     What  he  would  have  said,  if  interrogated, 


58V  FALL    RIVER. 

belongs  to  another  part  of  this  story — and  we  hast- 
en along  with  the  trial. 

The  testimony  of  her  sister  and  sister's  husband 
was  the  only  one  which  related  directly  to  the  inter- 
view of  the  deceased  with  the  prisoner  at  the  Camp 
Meeting.  She  had  told  them  of  an  acknowledg- 
ment which  she  had  given  the  meeting,  about  being 
unworthy,  ^c.  &c. ;  that  although  she  was  then  in 
good  standing  with  them,  it  had  not  been  returned ; 
that  Avery  still  had  the  paper  in  his  hands  and  ought 
to  restore  it  to  her;  that  she  had  asked  him  on  the 
Camp  ground  for  that  letter,  and  he  requested  an 
interview  with  her ;  that  she  met  him  in  a  retired 
part  of  the  wood,  where  he  asked  her  to  be  seated, 
which  she  complied  with,  and  then  asked  him  if  he 
had  got  the  letter  with  him?"  that  he  said  "no", 
and  then  proceeded  to  take  unwarrantable  liberties, 
and  that  she  made  ineffectual  resistance. 

It  seemed  the  friends  of  the  prisoner  had  made 
great  objections  to  the  time  it  must  have  taken  to 
walk  the  distance  back  from  Fall  River  to  Bristol 
ferry,  on  the  night  of  the  SOth  ;  and  two  men  now 
appeared  and  swore  to  the  fact  of  travelling  it  re- 
cently in  fifteen  minutes  less  than  it  took  the  pris- 
oner, according  to  all  their  statements  :  and  further, 
it  seemed  the  person  whose  route  was  traced  all  the 
way  on  that  afternoon,  was  no  slouch  of  a  walker; 
for  when  he  \vent  over,  a  lady  who  saw  him  just  on 
the  Fall  River  side  of  Howland's  ferry,  remarked 
*'  that  if  that  man  kept  on  as  he  was  going,  he  would 
get  to  Ohio  before  night."  The  evidence  mention- 
ed constituted  the  most  important  part,  and  pretty 
much  all  (though  condensed  into  a  much  smaller 
compass)  that  was  given.  After  the  Government 
evidence  was  closed,  the  host  of  testimony  on  the 
part  of  the  prisoner  was  brought  forward. 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.  59 

And  first,  there  were  six  physicians,  most  of  them 
•of  very  considerable  eminence  in  their  profession; 
one  or  two  holding  professorships  in  the  medical  de- 
partment of  some  of  our  Universities.  By  them  they 
endeavoured  to  prove,  first,  that  the  deceased  might 
have  hung  herself;  that  there  was  a  possibility  of 
her  hanging  herself  up  after  she  had  strangled  her- 
self to  death  with  the  cord  :  next,  that  the  internal 
injuries  discovered  in  her  person  on  the  second  ex- 
amination, viz.  a  little  more  than  a  month  after  the 
first  interment,  might  have  been  occasioned  by  de- 
composition. Those  observed  at  the  first  disinter- 
ment they  did  not  attempt  much  to  account  for. 
Next,  that  hanging  was  a  very  common  death  by 
suicide,  and  an  uncommon  way  of  murder.  ( This 
was  certainly  a  great  discovery,  and  no  doubt  edifi- 
ed the  court  and  jury.)  Thirdly,  a  long  and  most 
indecent  examination  and  discussion  was  entered 
into,  to  prove  that  the  prisoner  could  not  have  been 
the  father  of  the  child  which  the  deceased  was  about 
to  give  birth  to,  and  that  her  situation  must  have 
commenced  previous  to  the  Camp  Meeting.  This 
they  ground  on  the  circumstance  of  the  child  itself,' 
who  perished  with  the  mother,  being  larger  than 
:ommon  for  that  period  of  time.  This  seemed  to 
:)e  the  hinge  on  which  they  meant  the  case  should 
;urn;  and  for  this  six  physicians,  some  from  a  very 
considerable  distance,  were  brought  together  at  a 
great  expense,  and  a  most  lengthy  and  elaborate 
investigation  was  entered  into,  which  for  indelicate 
exposure  was  probably  never  exceeded  in  any  Court 
Df  Justice.  It  was  a  saying  afterwards  that  "  the 
next  age  would  have  no  need  of  physicians,  as  every 
boy  capable  of  reading  would  be  perfectly  instructed 
in  all  the  secrets  of  the  Materia  Medica — in  the  sci- 


60  FALL  RIVER. 

ences  of  Anatomy  and  Surgery,  at  least.  "  Howev- 
er learned  and  elaborate  it  was,  it  is  certain  that 
one  single  question  put  to  those  physicians,  if  proper- 
ly answered,  r«s  no  doubt  it  would  have  been,  would 
have  put  the  whole  to  rest  at  once,  by  overthrowing 
the  whole  theory  they  had  been  endeavouring  to  es- 
tablish. But  the  counsel  for  the  Government  hap- 
pening to  understand  more  of  the  laws  of  the  land 
than  the  laws  of  nature,  probably  never  thought  of 
this  test.* 

Immediately  after  the  testimony  of  the  physicians, 
commenced  the  examination  of  a  long  string  of  wit- 
nesses respecting  the  character  of  the  deceased,  and 
here  it  has  been  shrewdly  said  the  law  was  violated 
which  provides  that '' persons  shall  not  be  compell- 
ed to  give  evidence  against  themselves."  The 
whole  sum  and  substance  of  the  charges  seemed  to 
be  taken  from  her  own  mouth,  and  women  appear- 
ed on  the  stand  and  testified  to  things  told  them  by 
the  deceased  of  herself,  "  not  fit  for  mortal  ear  to 
hear,  or  mortal  tongue  to  utter."  Such  a  repetition 
of  village  gossip — such  a  hunting  up  of  old  factory 
stories,  and  of  legends  long  since,  as  one  would  have 
supposed,  forgotten,  (that  is  if  they  ever  existed,) 
never  was  heard  of  before.  Such  a  display  of  the 
amazing  powers  of  memory  too.  That  these  witnesses 
were  from  different  States,  and  therefore  voluntary 
>vitnesses,  relaters  of  scandals,  of  village  gossip 
which  never  yet  spared  any  one,  and  of  \vhich  the 
good  and  the  bad  have  sometimes  to  be  equal  par- 

*  What  sort  of  opinion  those  physicians  had  of  the  effect  of 
their  evidence  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that  one  of  them  was 
heard  to  declare,  not  more  than  three  weeks  after  die  trial,  "  that 
he  had  no  more  doubt  Avery  killed  her,  than  he  had  of  his  own 
existence." 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.        61 

takers  ;  betrayers  of  confidence  reposed  in  them 
(by  their  own  account)  which  if  true  proved  at  least 
that  the  deceased,  however  bad  herself,  considered 
them  of  the  same  stamp,  for  whoever  heard  of  a 
loose  woman  pouring  into  the  ears  of  a  modest  one 
the  history  of  her  intrigues  ?  Whoever  heard  of 
such  degrading  herself  by  being  in  the  confidence 
of  a  wanton  ?  It  appeared  the  obvious  intent  of  such 
testimony  to  prove  the  deceased  a  perfect  fiend,  ca- 
pable of  plotting  any  atrocity  and  of  carrying  it 
through.  But  to  what  purpose  it  may  be  asked  was 
all  this  directed  ?  Wliat  possible  bearing  upon  the 
case  could  such  evidence  have?  It  was  not  to  prove 
the  deceased  good,  but  the  prisoner  bad,  that  the 
process  was  instituted.  It  was  not  supposed  that 
an  immaculate,  incorruptible  being  would  have  fall- 
en a  victim  to  the  clumsy  courtship  and  bungling 
attempts  of  a^  fellow  who  by  the  testimony  of  his 
own  letters  does  not  appear  to  have  understood  even 
the  language  he  preached  in,  and  a  married  man  too. 
Why  then  this  innumerable  company  of  witnesses 
to  blacken  her  character  ? 

Why,  as  people  generally  understood  it,  it  was 
for  a  threefold  purpose.  In  the  first  place,  the  mere 
introduction  of  such  a  crowd  of  witnesses,  the  mere 
repetition  of  such  a  mass  of  evidence,  was  of  itself 
sufficient  to  divert  the  attention,  and  confuse  the  in- 
tellects of  any  court  and  jury  that  ever  sat.  It  had 
a  certain  tendency  to  throw  dust  in  people's  eyes,  » 
phrase  too  well  understood  to  need  explanation  here. 
And  above  all,  its  effect  would  be  to  turn  indigna- 
tion into  another  channel.  This  the  wily  counsel 
were  fully  aware  of,  and  the  doors  once  open  to  ad- 
mit such  evidence,  they  took  care  should  not  be 
speedily  closed,  but  that  every  possible  frailty  or  im- 
prudence from  the  cradle  to  the  grave  should  be 


62 


PALL  RIVER. 


hunted  up  and  expatiated  upon.  It  had  the  certain 
tendency  to  turn  the  public  indignation  from  the 
murderer,  whoever  he  might  be,  to  the  person  mur- 
•dered.  And  some  were  almost  ready  to  exclaim, 
*'  No  matter  who  killed  her — such  a  person  were 
better  out  of  the  world  than  in  it — they  have  cer- 
tainly done  society  a  good  service — whatever  were 
the  motives  of  the  slayer,  he  has  certainly  conferred 
a  public  benefit."  One  person  went  so  far  as  to  say 
that  "  he  did  not  think  such  a  drab  worth  having  a 
trial  about !" 

Persons  of  sense  and  discernment  however  there 
were  who  thought  they  discovered  in  this  host  of 
evidence  great  contradiction  with  itself  One  of 
these  evidences,  a  physician,  related  that  she  had 
come  to  him  for  advice,  and  told  him  she  was  a  bad 
girl.  Several  witnesses  too  corroborate  his  testimo- 
ny, and  say  that  she  told  them  of  her  calling  on 
this  doctor,  and  that  he  insulted  Her,  and  upon 
her  repulsing  him,  threatened,  unless  she  complied 
with  his  solicitations,  that  he  would  ruin  her  char- 
acter with  the  meeting,  and  knowing  therefore  that 
it  is  esteemed  a  point  of  honour  with  physicians  to 
keep  all  such  things  secret,  and  that  he  did  imme- 
diately after  the  threat,  as  she  said,  and  after  the 
visit  at  any  rate,  say  those  things  ^.gainst  her,  they 
believed  it  done  for  revenge.*  It  was  further  proved 
that  this  physician  made  a  demand  of  ten  dollars 
which  she  refused  to  pay,  saying  she  did  not  owe 
him  more  than  half  a  dollar.  Moreover  one  of  these 
persons  testified  that  the  deceased  told  her  she  was 
doctored  for  a  humour  which  originated  in  getting 
cold  at  a  camp  meeting — a  thing  by  no  means  in- 
credible to  those  who  know  the  danger  of  sleeping 
in  the  night  air,  and  on  the  damp  earth. 

♦Others  however  sn-ore  she  confessed  this  charge. 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.  63- 

The  story  of  this  insult  she  persisted  in  through 
all  the  subsequent  trouble  she  met  with,  and  they  in- 
quired if  one  part  of  her  testimony  was  to  be  credit- 
ed, why  not  all. 

One  witness  testified  to  her  going  out  of  a  factory 
with  a  string  in  her  hand  and  she  followed  her,  and 
really  believed  she  was  going  to  hang  herself  if  she 
had  not  interrupted  her. 

Another  witneess  of  the  Methodist  Society  testi- 
^ed  that  the  deceased  once  told  her  that  she  attempt- 
ed her  life,  and  had  not  courage  to  go  through  with 
it. 

Two  persons,  a  tavern  keeper  and  his  wife,  by  the 
name  of  Parker,  gave  a  most  singular  testimony. 
They  averred  that  eight  years  before,  a  girl  calling 
Aerse/f  Maria  Cornell,  came  to  their  house  in  the 
evening,  being  evidently  in  a  situation  no  young 
woman  would  want  to  travel  alone  in,  and  '*  appear- 
ed much  engaged  in  the  work  of  God."  That  was 
the  expression.  When  two  young  men  entered,  and 
she  immediately  charged  one  with  being  her  be- 
trayer, and  frightened  him  out  of  a  sum  of  money 
to  settle  with  her,  and  gave  him  a  receipt ;  and  that 
they  all  staid  all  night ;  and  she  came  down  stairs 
next  morning  looking  entirely  different ;  and  the 
young  man  thus  swindled  took  no  notice  of  her  al- 
tered looks  ;  and  they  all  went  away,  it  would  seem 
perfectly  satisfied.  This  evidence  was  judged  of 
great  importance  it  appeared  by  the  prisoner's  coun- 
sel, by  the  manner  in  which  it  was  handled  by 
them.  By  others  it  was  received  as  exhibiting  in- 
consistences not  to  be  reconciled,  1.  That  any 
young  man  would  put  up  with  such  an  imposition. 
2.  That  any  one  engaged  in  such  a  fraud  would  so 
soon  throw  off  the  mask.     3.  That  persons  so  very 


€4  FALL  RIVER. 

religious  as  they  evidently  wanted  to  be  thought, 
would  tolerate  such  transactions  in  their  houses,  and 
lodge  the  whole  company  after  it,  the  woman,  who- 
ever she  was,  and  her  paramour. 

Four  women  and  two  men  (Methodists)  were  then 
examined  ;  the  women  gave  a  history  of  such  dis- 
gusting intrigues,  as  could  scarce  be  parelleled, 
which  they  said  the  deceased  acknowledged  to  them 
in  the  way  of  confession.  That  she  appeared  very 
penitent  for  them,  and  one  said  "  wept  upon  hej; 
neck  until  she  was  quite  disgusted  with  her."  Two 
testified  she  had  threatened  vengeance  upon  Mr. 
Avery  for  signing  her  expulsion  from  the  meeting, 
and  that  she  said  "  she  would  be  revenged  on  him 
if  it  cost  her  her  life,"  although  it  did  not  appear 
she  had  any  known  cause  of  hostility  against  him. 
No  one  could  attach  any  blame  to  him,  who  being 
her  minister  was  obliged  to  act  as  the  rules  of  the 
meeting  required.  One  of  these  fair  swearers  was 
one  of  those  who  went  off  with  him  at  the  time  of 
his  flight  from  Bristol. 

Another  instance  of  that  recklessness  displayed 
by  the  prisoner's  friends  of  the  character  and  peace 
of  individuals,  and  perhaps  the  most  barbarous,  was 
the  trying  to  disgrace  the  character  of  her  sister's 
husband,  a  young  man  of  most  unexceptionable 
character,  always  known  for  his  modesty,  sobriety 
and  piety,  and  who  had  not  seen  the  deceased  for 
several  years  previous  to  the  fatal  sumnier — the  last 
of  her  earthly  pilgrimage,  when  she  came  to  visit 
them  and  her  aged  mother,  v/ho  resided  in  the  fam- 
ily. They  brought  witnesses  to  say,  that  S.  M.  Cor- 
nell had  told  that  her  sister's  husband  had  loved  her 
better  than  his  wife,  and  that  they  had  been  as 
free  as  man  and  ^vife ;  and  one  of  the  witnesses,  a 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.  65 

young  girl,  recited  a  long  piece  of  poetry  which  she 
recollected  she  yaid  from  reading  it  once  or  twice, 
and  which  Maria  had  said  her  brother  addressed  to 
her.* 

The  next  company  of  witnesses  were  called  to 
cbver  the  time  of  the  priisoner's  being  at  the  camp 
meeting,  which  if  we  recollect  was  three  days,  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  occupy  every  moment  of  it,  and 
make  it  an  impossibility  of  his  having  any  assigna- 
tion with  the  deceased.  In  fact,  if  all  this  testimo- 
ny could  be  relied  on,  the  prisoner  had  not  only  no 
time  for  an  interview  with  any  woman  out  of  their 
sight,  but  no  time  neither  for  the  ordinary  occasions 
of  life,  no  hour  for  private  devotion  or  any  thing  of 
that  sort ;  wherever  he  went,  it  appeared  from  the 
testimony,  there  was  some  one  at  his  elbow ;  if  he 
walked  or  rode,  or  sat  or  slept,  or  eat  or  drank,  or 
preached,  somebody  appeared  to  testify  to  the  hour, 
whose  memory  was  fresh  with  every  particular.  As 
one  dropped  him  another  took  him  up  ;  if  one  left 
him  another  joined  him  at  the  same  moment,  until 
they  fairly  guarded  him  out  of  the  premises,  and 
out  of  the  country.  Had  E.  K.  Avery  been  a  State 
prisoner,  suspected  of  treason,  under  one  of  the  most 

*  It  did  not  seem  f^ufficient  that  her  alm(3st  distracted  sister  had 
to  be  drag!;cd  to  Court,  to  hear  this  load  of  infamy  laid  upon  the 
departed,  but  her  domestic  peace  mast  be  assailed,  by  suspicions 
endeavored  to  be  infused  of  the  fidelity  of  her  husband,  of  the  fa- 
ther of  her  children,  now  her  only  earthly  support  and  consolation. 
"  Oh,"  said  she,  when  speakincr  of  this  transaction  afterwards  to  a 
friend,  "had  I  been  at  ail  addicted  to  jealousy,  or  had  the  least 
cause  to  be  so,  or  possessed  as  weak  a  mind  as  they  imputed  to 
my  sister,  what  might  not  tho  consequences  have  been.  They 
might  have  broken  up  my  family  and  perhaps  driven  me  to  distrac- 
tion or  suicide,  but  to  disturb  ray  peace  in  that  way  is  beyond 
their  power."  Still  we  rautt  suppose  she  v/asa  very  great  suffer- 
er in  hearinjr  such  abase. 


66  FALL  RIVER. 

arbitrary  governments  in  the  world,  he  could  not 
have  been  more  strictly  guarded,  and  closely  watch- 
ed than  be  must  have  been,  even  if  the  whole  Col- 
lege of  Jesuits  had  been  on  the  alert — besides  hav- 
ing such  fine  memories  that  they  could  all  remem- 
ber so  exact  about  every  moment  of  time,  and  even 
the  slightest  circumstance  respecting  this  man. 
Many  argued,  who  heard  this  testimony,  that  this 
was  suspicious;  that  it  was  a  thing  contrary  to  gene- 
ral experience — that  among  such  a  multitude,  one 
person  of  no  very  extraordinary  character  for  any 
thing,  should  be  singled  out  as  an  object  of  remark, 
a  point  of  observation,  a  centre  of  attraction  to 
which  all  eyes  were  turned,  and  argued  from  this 
very  testimony,  as  well  as  the  similar  one  of  the 
four  days  meeting  in  Providence,  that  it  was  over- 
done, and  would  undoubtedly  have  a  tendency  to 
convince  the  court  of  the  delinquency  of  the  prison- 
er— the  result  however  disappointed  their  calcula- 
tions. 

In  the  same  manner  they  endeavored  to  cover  the 
time  of  day  Orswell  supposed  was  the  one  that  the 
letter  was  handed  him.  The  Attorney  General  sta- 
ted in  his  remarks,  that  so  earnest  had  they  been  to 
cover  the  time,  when  the  letter  could  have  been  de- 
livered, that  "  they  made  out  fifteen  minutes  more 
than  there  really  was  of  it."  It  appeared  from  the 
testimony  of  the  witnesses,  that  he  was  constantly 
with  some  of  them  except  when  he  went  from  break- 
fast to  the  clergyman's,  when  the  walk  was  accom- 
plished in  as  short  a  space  of  time,  as  ever  man 
walked  it,  and  immediately  appeared  in  another 
place,  when  the  Rev.  somebody  else  took  him  to 
brother  somebody's,  and  instantly  he  appeared 
again  in  the  mcthodist  meeting-house,  at  the  begin- 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.        67 

ning  of  the  meeting,  precisely  at  nine  o'clock  ;  this 
they  remarked  by  one  particular  circumstance,  it 
is,  that  he  did  not  open  the  meeting  which  he  had 
previously  agreed  to  do;  for  this  omission  no  reason 
appeared  from  him  or  his  friends,  so  that  people 
were  left  to  conclude,  either  that  there  was  a  mis- 
take in  the  day,  which  Orswell  did  not  swear  to, 
or  that  he  had  slipped  away  a  few  moments  before 
the  meeting  (eluding  the  vigilance  of  his  sentinels,) 
and  was  too  much  fatigued  to  open  the  meeting  after 
such  a  race  ;  or  that  he  excused  himself  from  making 
the  first  prayer,  in  order  to  slip  away  while  the  peo- 
ple were  on  their  knees  and  would  not  observe  him  ; 
and  as  to  other  profane  spectators,  they  would  not 
have  observed  the  circumstance  of  a  man  gliding  in 
and  out,  where  there  is  such  constant  ingress  and 
egress.* 

While  the  evidence  was  taking,  witnesses  arrived 
post  haste  from  Providence,  to  swear  that  they  had 
just  measured  the  distance  from  the  methodist  meet- 
ing-house to  the  steamboat  wharf,  and  found  the 
distance  so  great  that  it  was  impossible  he  could 
have  travelled  it  that  n.orning  before  meeting.  So 
Mr.  Orswell  was  completely  sworn  down.  Never- 
theless a  little  time  after  that  trial  was  decided,  a 
respectable  farmer  came  forward  and  testified  to 
seeing  Avery  when  he  delivered  the  very  letter  to 
Orswell.  He  did  not  know  Avery  at  the  time,  but 
when  the  trial  came  to  be  published,  accompanied 

♦This  dodging  about  in  Methodist  meeting  is  believed  to  be 
nothing  uncommon.  The  Avriter  of  these  pages  has  a  very  distinct 
recollection  of  J.  N.  Maffitt,  who  u^ed  frequently  while  another 
minister  Avas  praying,  to  climb  up  and  look  over  the  house,  to  see 
who  stood  affected,  and  either  go  to  such  after,  or  have  them 
brought  up  to  have  the  benefit  of  his  prayers:  as  it  was  not 
noticed  as  a  breach  of  decorum,  we  conclude  it  is  not  uncommon. 
D 


^S  FALL  RIVER. 

with  a  striking  likeness  of  the  Rev.  accused,  this 
man,  Mr.  Angell,  immediately  recognized  the  per- 
son.* 

Witnesses  from  the  Camp  ground  were  produced 
against  S.  M.  Cornell,  the  deceased  :  one  of  whom 
testified  she  saw  her  slap  a  young  man  on  the  shoul- 
der ;  another. thought  something  might  have  been 
the  matter  with  her,  as  she  thought  she  walked  dif- 
ferent from  other  folks ;  another  imagined  some- 
thing against  her  character  because  her  frock  did 
not  quite  meet  together  behind ;  another  testified 
that  it  was  said  there  vv'ere  persons  of  bad  character 
there,  who  v.ere  directed  to  be  ordered  off  the  ground. 
But  although  it  was  known  the  deceased  was  there, 
it  appeared  she  was  not  molested.  As  to  the  char- 
acter of  Avery,  a  number  of  their  witnesses  were 
examined,  all  of  whom  testified  to  the  faultlessness  of 
his  character  ;  never  heard  but  what  his  disposition 
was  good  ;  his  character  for  every  thing,  good.  Two 
of  these  witnesses,  Methodist  ministers  by  the  name 
of  Merrill,  upon  being  cross  examined,  confessed 
he  had  been  prosecuted  for  defamation  in  Massachu- 
setts, but  stated  it  resulted  in  nothing  to  impeach 
his  character,  and  that  the  Ecclesiastical  Council 
acquitted  him  uf  all  hlamc. 

And  what,  asks  the  reader  who  has  never  read 
the  trial  and  is  unacquainted   with   the   events  of 

*The  measuring  the  ground  and  deciding  he  could  not  have  gone 
on  account  of  the  distance,  reminds  us  of  the  trial  of  John  N. 
Maffitt,  whom  a  clergyman  of  unimpeachable  charactei'  ?aw  kiss 
his  hand  during  service  time  to  a  lady  in  the  gallery.  The  meth- 
odist  conference  went  and  measured  the  distance  from  where  Maf- 
fitt stood  to  the  gallery,  and  very  gravely  decided  that  the  distance 
was  so  great  that  tlie  witness  could  not  possibly  have  heard  the 
report  of  the  kiss  ! !  !  and  that  their  worthy  "brother  must  be 
innocent. 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.  69 

this  Story  (unless  Ecclesiastical  Councils  should  take 
the  place  of  Courts  of  Justice,  and  become  the  law 
of  the  land,  and  such  books  be  condemned  to  be 
burnt  by  the  common  hangman  and  their  authors 
to  some  modern  "Inquisition,  ")  what  did  they,  the 
witnesses,  say  respecting  the  absence  of  Avery  from 
Bristol  an  the  day  of  the  murder?  and  how  did  they 
manage  to  clear  up  the  circumstance  of  the  letters  ? 
of  his  being  so  unfortunate  as  to  be  in  the  very  pla- 
ces, on  the  very  day  when  the  letters  were  dated, 
and  of  having  letters  charged  him  at  the  Post  Office 
on  the  very  day  when  the  letters  of  the  deceased 
must  have  reached  him?  Surely  here  must  have 
been  their  strongest  stand ;  and  these  things  satis- 
factorily accounted  for  would  not  only  have  saved 
his  life,  but  what  is  of  more  value,  or  ought  to  be  to 
a  christian  minister,  his  character.  Doubtless  this 
must  have  been  the  ransacking  for  witnesses  at  the 
time  the  turnpike  gates  saw  such  hard  service. 
This  must  have  been  the  dodging  in  and  out  of  eve- 
ry tavern,  factory  village  and  factory  boarding  house 
in  the  country. 

No  such  thing,  no  such  witnesses  were  brought 
forward,  nothing  of  the  kind  attempted.  Relying 
upon  the  protection  of  the  law,  that  the  accuser 
shall  prove  where  the  accused  is,  not  he  prove  where 
he  is  not,  the  prisoner  took  possesion  of  the  strong 
hold,  and  saved  the  ship  from  sinking  by  throwing 
character  overboard. 

But  surely,  says  the  reader,  they  must  have  made 
a  lame  piece  of  work  of  it,  if  that  were  the  case. 
For  what  purpose  this  array  of  witnesses  to  prove 
the  deceased  bad  ?  that  was  what  the  Government 
wanted  to  prove :  for  good  she  could  not  be  and  be 
his  mistress — her  minister!    a  married  man  too! 


70  FALL  RIVER. 

Why  it  argues  a  great  degree  of  depravity,  or  infat- 
uation, or  destitution  of  reason.  How  did  all  these 
inconsistences  of  character  in  the  deceased  help 
him?  It  only  made  the  probability  of  the  case 
more  apparent.  Granted — but  nevertheless  this  tes- 
timony, strange  and  inconsistent  and  contradictory 
as  it  was,  was  their  fort,  and  upon  this  they  ground- 
ed their  defence  of  the  prisoner.  The  counsel  for 
the  prisoner  had  sketched  out  a  romance,  not  to  be 
equalled  by  any  thing  we  know  or  read  of  Spanish 
or  Italian  vengeance,  and  dressing  it  up  in  a  most 
ingenious  manner,  presented  it  to  the  attention  of 
the  Jury.  His  argument  was,  that  this  girl,  the  de- 
ceased, was  utterly  bad,  capable  of  any  sort  of  wick- 
edness ;  that  she  owed  the  prisoner  a  grudge  for  his 
share  in  turning  her  out  of  meeting,  and  that  she 
had  wreaked  her  vengeance  upon  him  in  this  man- 
ner :  first,  by  writing  the  letters  or  procuring  them 
to  be  written  and  sent  to  her,  and  then  by  pretend- 
ing he  was  her  betrayer;  and  finally  hanging  herself 
after  writing  a  billet,  "  if  she  was  missing  to  inquire 
of  the  Rev.  E.  K.  Avery." — that  she  had  said, 
*'she  would  be  revenged  upon  him  if  it  cost  her  her 
life, "  and  accordingly  had  contrived  this  method 
and  carried  it  into  execution,  and  that  all  the  rest 
was  the  effect  of  the  heightened  imagination  of  the 
Fall  River  folks ;  and  the  excitement  he  politely 
styled  the  "  Fall  River  fever  "  :  and  whenever  in 
the  course  of  his  brief  review  of  the  evidence,  he 
chanced  to  come  across  something  remarkably  tough, 
why,  with  a  flourish  known  only  to  the  people  called 
lawyers,  he  would  give  it  a  toss,  and  get  rid  of  it  at 
once  without  any  trouble,  as  easily  as  one  would 
toss  a  biscuit  into  the  sea.  Never  was  the  old  prov- 
erb verified  better  than  in  this  case,  viz,'"  one  bold 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NArtRATIVE.  71 

assertion  is  better  than  a  host  of  argument,"  and 
"  two  negatives  is  as  good  as  one  affirmative  ;"  and 
we  had  like  to  have  added  the  third,  *'  a  lie  icvU 
stuck  to  is  as  good  as  the  trutli,"  but  we  leave  that 
out.  lie  attempted  to  establish  it  as  a  fact  that  the 
deceased  was  insane  too,  and  yet  that  all  this  meth- 
od was  adopted  in  her  madness :  that  she  was  capa- 
ble of  a  plot  of  revenge  deeper  and  of  a  more  dia- 
bolical character  than  any  ever  related  before  of 
woman — a  plot  which,  in  conception  and  execution, 
surpassed  all  human  credibility. 

lie  was  replied  to  by  the  Attorney  General,  Al- 
bert C.  Greene,  Esq.  whose  health  at  the  time  was 
not  good,  and  whose  arduous  labours  had  during  the 
trial  much  exhausted  him  ;  a  gentleman  of  good  law 
knowledge,  of  amiable  manners,  and  feeling  heart, 
but  whose  plain  good  sense  was  no  match  for  the 
subtlety  of  his  antagonist.  His  speech  contained 
much  sound  reasoning;  nevertheless,  after  a  short 
charge  from  the  chief  justice,  the  jury  retired,  and 
on  the  next  morning,  at  9  o'clock,  brought  in  a  ver- 
dict of  not  guilty,  having  consumed  four  weeks  in 
the  trial. 

Various  opinions  respecting  the  verdict  of  the  ju- 
ry prevailed,  yet  all  felt  it  their  duty  to  acquiesce  in 
the  decision  of  a  legal  tribunal,  and  no  one  had  the 
least  idea  of  molesting  Mr.  Avery  after  his  discharge 
by  the  court.  The  Fall  River  people,  who  had  be- 
haved throughout  most  magnanimously,  notwith- 
standing the  hue  and  cry  of  the  friends  of  Avery, 
that  they  w^ere  thirsting  for  his  blood,  and  a  deal 
more  of  that  sort,  were  as  content  to  let  him  live  as 
any  others.  They  however  looked  forward  with 
certain  confidence  to  his  being  deposed  as  a  preach- 
er. They  could  conceive  of  very  great  efforts  to 
D  ' 


*7i8  FALL  RIVER. 

save  him  from  the  gallows,  from  the  mistaken  notion 
that  the  penalty  was  the  disgrace  of  crime,  and  that 
his  death  would  be  thought  to  bring  an  unefFaceable 
stain  upon  the  method  ist  order.  When  therefore 
his  own  people  sat  upon  his  case,  as  it  was  known 
they  did  not  measure  their  decision  by  the  fiat  of  the 
law,  and  that  he  did.  not,  nor  could  not,  satisfactori- 
ly account  for  himself,  or  clear  up  the  affair  of  the 
letters,  &c.  it  was  believed  he  would  be  expelled 
from  their  order,  or  at  least  forerer  debarred  from 
preaching — that  if  it  were  for  their  own  character 
alone,  they  would  not  suffer  such  an  outrage  upon 
the  feelings  and  common  sense  of  the  community. 
But  to  their  amazement  and  that  of  others  the  "Ec- 
clesiastical Council,"  as  they  style  themselves,  the 
highest  tribunal  among  them  at  any  rate,  pronoun- 
ced him  perfectly  innocent,  and  freed  from  all  sus- 
picion, and  continued  him  in  the  service  of  his  of- 
fice. This  outrage  upon  the  feelings  of  society  it  is 
believed  will  eventually  injure  them  more  in  the  es- 
timation of  mankind,  than  it  would  have  done  to 
have  had  twenty  preachers  hung. 

To  leave  digression  and  pursue  the  thread  of  the 
narrative — E.  K.  Avery  was  almost  instantaneously 
hurried  out  of  Newport,  after  the  rendering  of  the 
verdict,  and  conveyed  to  his  family  in  Bristol,  and 
continued  in  his  office,  and  weekly  to  hold  forth  to 
the  people,  followed  by  crowds  whom  curiosity  at- 
tracted to  hear  him,  so  much  more  will  that  impel 
people  than  devotion. 

The  murdered,  mangled  remains  of  Sarah  Maria 
Cornell  still  repose  at  Fall  River,  at  rest  we  hope, 
from  all  further  molestation.  The  generous  and 
feeling  inhabitants  of  the  village  wished  to  have 
placed  a  handsome  marble  monument  over  her  re- 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.        73 

mains,  detailing  the  sad  tragedy  of  her  death,  but 
tliis  her  relations  objected  to,  from  the  fear  that  it 
would  not  be  permitted  to  remain,  and  that  the  same 
^  interest  which  had  been  exerted  to  blacken  her  char- 
acter, might  be  to  destroy  all  records  of  the  transac- 
tion.    Her    brother   and   sister  Rawson    therefore 
placed  a  small  but  neat  stone  at  the  head   and  foot 
of  the  grave,  simply  mscribed  with  her  name  and 
age.     That  lowly  grave  has  been  the  pilgrimage  of 
thousands  from  all  tiie  different  sections  of  the  coun- 
try.    It  is  in  vain  that  the  friends  of  Avery  endeav- 
our to  place  that  unfortunate   being  beneath  even 
the  pity  of  the  virtuous.     Her  own  sex  feel  she  was 
a  woman,  and  as  such  entitled  to  their  sympathies, 
the  other,  more  generally  inclined  to  compassionate 
female  frailty,  pity  her  with  undissembled  sorrow. 
Few  have  visited  that  spot  without  tears.     There 
seems  to  be  a  spell  breathing  around  that  none  can 
withstand:  the  effect  is    absolutely   irresistable.     It 
is  a  humble  grave,  in  a  solitary  spot.     It  is  the  grave 
of  a  poor  factory  girl,  but  from  that  grave   a  voice 
seems  to  issue,  noisless  as  that  still   small  one,  that 
speaks  to  the  conscience  of  the  sinner,  but  whose 
tones  nevertheless  sink  deep  into  the  heart.     The 
author  of  these  pages  visited  that  spot,  as  well  as  the 
one  where  she  met  her  fate,  at   a   most   interestino- 
moment.     It  was  on  the  evening  of  the  first  of  Ju- 
ly.    The  moon  was  then  at  its  full,  yet  a  kind  of 
shadowy  darkness  hung  over  the  spot,  blending  the 
outlines  of  the  surrounding  landscape  so  as  to  render 
them  nearly  indistinct.     For  some  time  I  stood  wan- 
dering, without  dreaming  of  the  cause,  but  upon 
looking  up,  discovered  the  moon  was  in  an  eclipse. 
There  was  a  singular  coincidence  in  it  certainly, 
and  it  forcibly  reminded  me  of  the  dark  and  myste- 


74  PALL  mVEPv*^ 

rious  fate  of  her  who  reposed  beneath.  I  watched 
it  as  the  shadow  slid  from  the  moon's  disk,  and  I 
felt  that  confidence  which  I  have  ever  felt  since, 
that  the  mystery  of  darkness  which  envelopes  the 
story  and  hides  the  sad  fate  of  that  unfortunate  vic- 
tim will  one  day  be  dispersed.  The  following  lines 
were  penned  at  the  time  and  afterwards  published 
in  the  Fall  River  Monitor.  They  are  inserted  here 
by  request. 

And  here  thou  makcst  thy  lonely  bed, 
Thou  poor  forlorn  and  injuvcd  one  ; 

Here  rests  thy  aching  head — 
Marked  by  a  nameless  stone.* 

Poor  victim  of  man's  lawless  passion, 
Though  e'er  so  tenderly  carest — 

Better  to  trust  the  raging  ocean, 
Than  lean  upon  his  stormy  breast. 

And  thou  though  frail,  wert  fair  and  mild ; 

Some  gentle  virtues  warmed  thy  breast. 
Poor  outcast  being  !  sorrow's  child  ! 

Reproach  can't  break  thy  rest. 

On  thy  poor  wearied  breast  the  turf 
Lies  quite  as  soft  as  on  the  rich : 

What  now  to  thee  the  scorn  and  mirth, 
Of  sanctimonious  hypocrites. 

That  mangled  form  now  finds  repose, 
^  And  who  shall  say  thy  soul  does  not, 

Since  he  who  from  the  grave  arose 
Brought  immortality  to  light. 

*The  stones  with  her  name  were  not  tlicn  up. 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.  75 

Poor  fated  one  the  day  is  coming 
When  sin  and  sorrow  pass  away — 

I  see  the  light  already  gleaming 
Which  ushers  in  an  endless  day. 

Where  shall  the  murderer  be  found? 

He  calls  upon  the  rocks  in  vain — 
The  force  of  guilt  will  then  confound, 

Alas  the  Judge  !  no  longer  man. 

He  calls  upon  the  rocks  in  vain — 

The  adamantine  rocks  recoil, 
Earth  can  no  longer  hide  the  slain, 

And  death  yields  up  his  spoil. 

Where  shall  the  murderer  appear  ? 

My  God  thy  judgments  are  most  deep : 
No  verdict  can  the  monster  clear 

Who  dies  a  hypocrite  must  wake  to  weep. 


CHAPTER  V. 


LIFE  OF  SAP^AH  MARIA  CORNELL. 

With  the  greatest   care   and  impartiality  the  au-  I 
Ihor  of  the   following  pages  has  collected  together 
all  the  facts  susceptible  of  proof  relating  to  the  life 
of  Sarah  Maria  Cornell.     Some  of  these  were  gain- 
ed from  her  own  family — others  from  stangers. 

S.  M.  CORNELL  was  born  in  May  1802,  in 
Rupert,  Vermont.  Her  mother,  the  daughter  of 
Christopher  Leffingwell,  Esq.  of  Norwich,*  was  a 
well  educated  and  good  principled  woman,  a  daugh- 
ter to  one  of  the  first  families  in  the  State.  She 
had  been  carefully  brought  up  and  accustomed  only 

*  This  Christopher  Leffingwell  was  the  direct  descendant  of 
that  Thomas  Leffingwell  of  Savbrook,  Connecticut,  who  had  the 
honor  of  rescuing  by  his  bravery  t!ie  celebrated  Uncas,  with  his 
remnant  of  jMohicans,  from  the  power  of  the  Narraga-.isetts,  in  the 
Moody  war  between  the  Indians  oft'nis  last  tribe  and  the  new  set- 
tlers, the  English,  about  the  year  1680;  and  who  received  after- 
wards, as  a  testimonj'  of  gratitude  from  that  renowned  warrior, 
the  grant  of  land,  by  deed,  of  all  that  tract  upon  which  the  town 
of  Norwich  now  stands.  New-Eni^land  is  under  lasting  obliga- 
tions to  the  irame  of  Lpffin<jwell.     Tlie  circumstances  were  these. 

Uncas,  who  with  his  band  was  fighting  in  defenceof  the  whites, 
got  hemmed  in,  in  a  place  of  imminent  danger,  at  some  distance 
from  Saybrook,  but  found  means  to  send  a  messenger  to  that  place 
to  ask  the  English  there  to  come  to  his  relief.  Their  whole  force 
had  left  the  place,  in  another  direction,  except  those  left  to  guard 
the  fjrt.  But  Thomas  Leftingwell  formed  the  bold  plan  of  convey- 
ing the  whole  band  across  into  the  fort,  in  the  course  of  the  night, 
in  his  canoe,  and  a.ctr.ally  accomplished  it;  and  when  the  ferocious 
Narragansetts  came  upon  their  post,  in  the  morning,  behold  they 
were  gone  !  all  safely  stowed  into  the  English  fort  at  Saybrook - 
This  raanacuvrc  turned  the  tide  of  Avar. 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.        77 

to  the  best  society.  Unhappily,  .she  contracted 
early  in  life  an  unfortunate  attaclmient.  Mr.  Cor- 
nell was  a  person  employed  in  one  of  the  manu-u 
factories  belonging  to  her  father.  Good  looking 
and  of  pleasing  address,  he  succeeded  in  captiva- 
ting the  affections  of  a  daughter  of  his  employer. 
Mr.  Leffingwell  was  at  first  very  wroth,  and  made 
considerable  opposition  to  the  match,  but  upon  be-i 
ing  assured  by  his  daughter  that  she  was  firmly  and 
immoveably  attached  to  Cornell  and  could  never  be 
happy  with  any  other  man,  the  old  gentleman  gave 
up  the  contest,  and  suffered  the  union  to  take  place 
without  further  opposition.  His  daughter  removed 
after  marriage  to  Vermont,  where  her  children  were 
born ;  and  here  she  was  destined  to  taste  the  bit- 
terness of  an  ill  assorted  union.  Her  husband  it 
seemed  had  formed  the  design,  and  it  very  soon  de- 
veloped, to  be  supported  from  his  father-in-law's 
funds,  which  were  supposed  inexhaustible,  and  him- 
self to  be  a  gentlem.an  at  large.  In  pursuit  of  this 
determination  he  worked  upon  the  feelings  of  his 
wife  to  get  her  to  draw  money  from  her  father.  Mrs. 
Cornell,  who  was  one  of  those  gentle,  unresisting 
characters  that  knew  not  how  to  contend,  suffered 
herself  for  some  time,  though  sorely  against  her 
feelings,  to  be  influenced  to  this,  and  repeatedly 
drew  large  sums  of  money  from  her  indulgent  fa- 
ther, to  supply  her  husband's  demands,  until  at 
length  the  old  gentleman  resolutely  refused  to  ad- 
vance any  more ;  upon  which  Cornell  carried  his 
wife  and  children  to  her  father's  house,  and  leaving 
them,  quit  the  country,  and  relieved  himself  forever 
from  the  task  of  supporting  a  woman  whom  he  had 
probably  married  without  the  least  sentiment  of  af- 
fection whatever,  and  abandoning  the  children  in 


78  FALL  RIVER. 

their  helpless  infancy,  whom  the  laws  of  God,  and 
the  laws  of  the  land  both  required  him  to  support. 
What  was  the  situation  of  Mr.  LefRngwell's  estate 
at  his  decease,  we  do  not  know,  or  whether  he  sup- 
posed  he  had  bestowed  enough  upon  this  daughter ; 
but  certain  it  is  that  although  the  rest  of  the  family 
were  in  easy  circumstances,  if  not  affluent,  she  and 
her  family  were  poor,  and  she  and  her  children 
found  a  home  with  some  of  their  relatives,  and  ap- 
pear to  have  looked  chiefly  to  their  own  exertions 
for  support.  They  were  separated,  being  all  brought 
up  at  different  places,  and  not  even  knowing  one 
another  for  several  years.  The  unfortunate  girl  who 
is  the  subject  of  this  memoir  was  in  the  same  house 
with  her  mother  until  about  eleven  years  of  age. 
She  then  went  to  live  with  a  Mrs.  Lathrop  of  Nor- 
wich, her  mother's  sister.  With  her  she  continued 
until  fifteen  years  of  age,  and  then  went  to  leartt- 
the  tailor's  trade,  where  she  staid  two  years,  and 
then  for  a  time  resided  with  her  mother  in  Bozrah,. 
a  short  distance  from  Norwich,  working  at  her 
trade. 

During  h^r  residence  at  the  house  where  she 
learned  her  trade,  her  mind  appeared  for  the  first 
time  called  up  to  attend  to  religion.  There  was  at 
the  time  a  great  reformation,  as  it  is  termed,  in  the 
neighbourhood — that  is,  there  was  a  great  stir  about 
religion,  and  much  going  to  meeting,  and  many- 
professing,  of  which  number  doubtless  many  con- 
tinued steadfast ;  but  in  a  time  of  such  general  ex- 
citement it  is  known  there  is  a  great  deal  of  self- 
deception.  The  quick  feelings  and  sanguine  tem- 
perament of  S.  M.  Cornell  were  calculated  to  mis- 
lead her,  and  it  was  not  long  before  she  rushed  with 
the  multitude  to  the  altar  of  baptism,  joining  herself 


AN    AUTHENTIC   NARRATIVE.  71) 

in  christian  coiir.nuiiion  to  the  congregation  of  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Austin,  a  Calvinistic  Congregationalist. 
No  reproach  can  with  justice  attach  itself  to  a  cler- 
gyman in  such  cases,  unless  they  are  hurried  into 
such  a  profession  without  any  time  ibr  trial,  which 
was  not  the  case  in  this  instance.  Man  cannot 
look  into  futurity  and -tell  Vv'ho  will  prove  stead- 
fast and  who  will  not,  and  if  a'rational  person  makes 
a  good  profession  of  faith,  and  avows  a  resolution 
to  lead  a  christian  life,  the  minister  is  bound  to  re- 
ceive them,  unless  he  knows  something  in  their 
present  character  and  conduct  at  variance  with 
their  professions.  For  two  years  she  continued 
steadfast,  and  it  was  said  a  bright  example  in  out- 
ward conduct;  yet  nevertheless  the  seed  had  fallen 
on  stony  ground,  v/hcre  the  earth  was  not  of  suffi- 
cient depth  to  foster  it.  A  season  of  declension 
succeeded  it.  Lightness  and  vanity  again  took  pos- 
session of  her  imagination.  A  passion  for  dress  at 
this  time  seemed  to  be  a  predominant  feeling,  and 
that  passion  she  was  obliged  to  set  bci'mds  to,  be 
cause  she  had  not  the  means  of  gratifying  it. 

It  w^as  at  this  unfortujiate  season,  the  only  one  it 
is  believed  in  her  existence  when  the  same  tempta- 
tion would  have  had. the  same  weight,  that  her  mo- 
ther brougii:  her  to  Providence.  Her  older  sister 
lived  there  with  a  relation  who  had  brought  her  up ; 
and  these  two  sisters,  separated  for  many  years,  had' 
long  desired  a  reunion.  That  wish,  so  natural,  was 
at  last  indulged,  and  like  most  of  our  earnest  desires 
for  earthly  gratiiication,  indulged  to  their  mutual 
sorrow.  Introduced  for  the  first  time  since  child- 
hood into  the  temptations  and  allurements  of  a  com- 
mercial town,  those  feelings  of  childish  vanity,  and 
love  of  dress,  and  show,  and  ornament,  which  had 
E 


80  FALL  RIVER. 

been  growing  upon  her  for  some  time,  seemed  com- 
pletely to  get  tbe  mastery — and  being  often  in  the^ 
shops  where  those  articles  for  which  she  had  so  long 
sighed  presented  themselves  before  her — she  at 
length  possessed  herself  of  some  of  them,  trifling 
indeed  in  amount,  but  destined  to  prove  her  entire 
destruction  in  this  world  as  respected  character  and 
every  thing  else.  Though  the  whole  of  these  arti- 
cles purloined  in  a  moment  of  lightness,  of  thought- 
lessness and  temptation,  did  not  exceed  in  amount 
but  a  very  few  dollars,  it  was  immediately  discover- 
ed, and  the  avenger  was  close  upon  her  heels.  Un- 
used to  crime,  her  manner  at  the  time  was  so  singu- 
lar and  agitated  as  to  excite  suspicion  in  the  store, 
and  she  was  follow^ed  to  the  house  of  one  of  her 
relatives,  where  the  articles  were  found — not  exceed- 
ing five  dollars  in  amount,  and  several  very  small 
trifles  beside,  which  she  immediately  told  of,  and 
where  she  got  them,  and  her  friends  sent  them  to 
the  gentlemen,  and  offered  to  pay  all  damages,  &c. 
to  both  ;  they  exacted  nothing  however  but  the 
amount  of  the  goods.  The  grief  and  agitation  of 
the  poor  girl  vented  itself  ia  repeated  fits  of  hysteri- 
cal laughing  and  crying  at  the  time,  and  in  the  bit- 
terest self-accusation  afterwards,  when  she  seemed 
fully  to  realize  what  she  had  done,  and  could  those 
gentlemen  have  knowui  the  effect  that  disgraee  was 
to  have  upon  her  future  destiny,  doubtless  they 
would  have  preferred  to  have  lost  ten  times  the 
amount  rather  than  have  exposed  her.  Be  that  as  it 
may  however,  the  fact  that  she  did  purloin  these  ar- 
ticles is  certain,  and  I  have  it  in  express  charge 
from  her  nearest  kindred,  her  kind  brother  and  sis- 
ter, not  to  attempt  to  conceal  it,  but  in  every  thing 
is  far  as  I  can  discover  the  truth  to  make  it  mani- 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.  81 

fest.  They  knew  of  this  delinquency  in  their  sister 
by  her  own  confession  ;  she  did  not  attempt  to  de- 
ceive them,  and  they  knew  of  no  other  instance  of 
the  kind  of  her  oifending  ;  they  know  by  the  same 
means,  viz.  her  own  confessions,  of  her  intercourse 
with  Avery,  and  they  know  of  no  other  person  witli 
whom  they  believe  her  to  have  been  criminal.  But, 
to  go  back  to  the  story.* 

The  open,  candid  manner  in  which  they  had  be- 
haved, themselves,  and  the  keen  distress  of  the  of- 
fender herself,  certainly  induced  them  to  hope  she 
would  not  be  publicly  exposed,  but  by  some  means 
or  other  it  was  immediately  communicated  to  town 
and  country.  For  this  they  were  not  prepared,  far 
less  did  they  anticipate  that  this  circumstance  would 
be  brought  up  in  a  court  ofjustice,  eleven  years  after, 
to  prove  that  she  killed  herself,  to  be  avenged  on  a 
man  who  had  exposed  her  misconduct,  when  she 
had  not  even  shewn  resentment  towards  them. 

That  this  was  the  only  sin  of  the  kind — the  only 
instance  of  dishonesty  that  could  be  brought  up 
against  S.  M.  Cornell,  must  be  believed  by  every 
one  who  ever  saw  the  famous  trial  of  S.  M.  Cornell, 
denominated  on  the  title  page,  "  Trial  of  E.  K.  Ave- 
ry." For  had  there  been  another  thing  of  the  kind 
known  against  her — a  wit  observed  as  "heaven, 
earth  and  hell  were  ransacked  for  witnesses,"  it 
must  have  made  its  appearance.     On  the  contrary, 

*  Some  of  the  people  so  violent  in  denouncing  this  poor  girl,  at 
the  time,  were  running  crazy  after  a  new  prendipr  then  in  town, 
Avho,  they  affirmed,  was  one  of  the  greatest  saints  living;  as  he 
had  dotie  every  thing  bad — murder  excepted.  Among  other  things, 
he  had  been  a  thief,  they  said.  Kot  thinking  that  any  particular 
recommendation  in  a  preaclier,  we  had  not  the  honor  of  hearing 
him;  but  we  recollect  remembering,  at  tlie  time,  the  old  adage, 
^'  one  man  mav  steal  a  horse,  while  another  man  camwt  look  ovof 
his  shoulder.  "'  * 


I 


S2  FALL  RIVER. 

she  was  afterwards  often  remarked  for  the  punc- 
tuality and  exact  regularity  of  her  dealings.  The 
writer  of  these  pages  knew  a  milliner  with  whom 
she  had  very  considerable  dealings  at  Lowell,  and 
to  whom  she  was  often  indebted,  and  who  remarked 
*'  that  she  was  the  most  punctual  person  in  the  pay- 
ment -of  her  debts  she  had  ever  known,  as  she  seem- 
ed to  have  a  principle  of  honesty  about  discharging 
a  debt  the  very  day  she  had  promised  the  money, 
and  always  bore  in  mind  the  exact  sum  she  owed," 
It  appears  that  the  connexions  of  S.  M.  Cornell 
generally,  with  the  exception  of  her  mother,  and  her 
kind  hearted  sister,  meant  to  make  her  feel  the  full 
extent  of  the  offence  she  had  committed.  It  does 
not  in  the  general  way  require  much  to  set  rich  re- 
lations agamst  poor  ones — but  here  was  ample  room 
for  feelings  of  superiority  over  poor,  fallen  human 
nature.  Some  of  her  connexions  shut  the  door  in 
her  face  when  she  called  to  see  them  afterwards — 
and  for  the  most  part  they  manifested  a  very  jrroper 
detestation  of  her  offence,  by  displaying  proper  re- 
Fciitmcnt.  She  returned  to  the  country  and  resumed 
her  employment,  but  the  story  got  there  before  her. 
She  had  relinquished  her  former  employment  of 
tailoring  and  gone. to  work  in  a  factory.  Here  she 
was  now  regarded  with  a  degree  of  suspicion,  painful 
in  the  extreme  to  a  person  of  her  natural  pride,  and 
she  quit  the  place  and  v^'ent  to  another,  but  being 
dissatisfied  with  the  employment,  again  resumed  her 
sewing,  and  v»'entto  live  with  a  merchant  tailor  in  a 
neighboring  town  ;  she  continued  in  lier  employment 
fiome  months,  when  the  story  reached  the  family  that 
she  "  hod  hren  talked  aboiit,"  which  caused  them  to 
watch  her  with  scrupulous  regard.  There  was  a 
young  gentleman  then  in  the  neighborhood   who 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NAKKATIVE.  83 

(ised  to  go  often  into  the  shop,  and  frequently  sit 
down  by  Her  and  converse,  sometimes  in  an  under 
tone,  and  sometimes  he  would  invite  her  to  take  a 
walk  of  a  pleasant  evening,  and  she  would  go  with 
him.  This  circumstance,  as  he  was  a  young  and 
unengaged  man,  and  she  very  pretty,  would  proba- 
bly of  itself  have  caused  no  suspicion,  had  not  the 
saying  that  she  had  been  talked  about  been  so  often 
repeated.  She  did  not  board  with  the  family  who 
employed  her,  but  in  the  family  of  a  respectable 
physician  on  the  other  side  of  the  way :  and  being 
convinced  by  the  circumstance  just  related,  joined 
to  the  saying  that  she  had  been  "  talked  about,  " 
though  they  did  not  exactly  know  for  what,  that  her 
character  was  not  good,  the  wife  of  her  employer 
took  it  upon  her  to  dismiss  her  ;  and  sending  for  her 
to  come  in,  begun  by  accusing  her  of  "  imposing 
herself  upon  their  society  when  her  character  was 
not  good ;  "  and  having  said  all  she  judged  necessa- 
ry on  that  .head,  she  formally  dismissed  her  from 
their  employment.  During  all  this  time  the  poor, 
persecuted  girl  only  opposed  tears  to  the  reproaches 
heaped  upon  her.  She  knew  that  she  had,  by  one 
indiscretion,  by  one  violation  of  that  command, 
"  thou  shalt  not  covet  any  thing  that  is  thy  neigh- 
bor's,."  brought  reproach  upon  her  good  name;  and 
she  probably  thought  they  knew  of  it,  and  said 
nothing  because  she  could  not  bear  to  hear  it  named. 
She  only  asked  permission  to  remain  until  next 
day,  when  the  stage  would  pass,  which  was  grant- 
ed. "To  this  day,"  said  the  lady  who  had  vented 
these  reproaches,  "  to  this  day,  my  conscience  re- 
proaches me  for  the  harshness  with  which  I  spoke 
to  her,  when  memory  recalls  the  tears  she  shed,  and 
l^er  meek,  forbearing  manners,  and  I  must  say,  that 


84  FALL  RIVER. 

she  had  the  meekest  temper,  and  one  of  the  mildest 
and  sweetest  dispositions  I  ever  met  with. "  She 
added,  that  that  very  night  a  relation  of  theirs  who 
was  then  very  ill  in  their  house,  was  distressed  for 
a  watcher,  they  having  sent  half  over  the  neighbor- 
hood for  one  without  succes  ;  which  S.  M.  Cornell 
hearing  of,  immediately  offered  to  watch  with  her, 
and  though  they  were  ashamed  to  accept  of  her 
services,  they  were  constrained  to ;  and  that  she  was 
so  kind  and  attentive  to  the  .  ick,  that  the  woman 
after  her  recovery  often  enquired  after  her,  saying, 
*'  she  was  the  kindest  and  best  person  to  the  sick, 
she  ever  saw.  " 

From  this  place  it  appears  she  went  to  Slaters- 
I'ille,  Rhode-Island,  and  commenced  working  again 
in  the  factory ;  soon  after  which,  a  Mr.  Taylor,  a 
Methodist,  commenced  preaching  there,  and  here 
again  there  was  a  great  stir  about  religion.  Mr. 
Taylor  was  one  of  their  popular  preachers — there 
was  a  great  reformation,  and  S.  M.  Cornell,  who 
had  for  some  time  given  up  the  idea  that  she  had  ev- 
er possessed  religion,  was  once  more  awakened ; 
and  having,  by  some  means  or  other,  become  per- 
suaded that  immersion  was  the  only  Scripture  way 
of  baptism,  felt  desirous  to  be  rebaptized.  After  a 
profession  of  faith  and  going  through  all  the  prelim- 
inaries, she  was  accordingly  immersed  ;  and  the 
Methodist  meeting,  who  profess  to  believe  that  wa- 
ter administered  in  any  form,  in  the  name  of  the 
Trinity,  is  baptism,  and  who  baptize  in  both  ways 
themselves,  had  no  hesitation  in  rebaptizing  her. 
However,  that  is  of  minor  consequence  to  what  fol- 
lowed. She  continued  in  fellowship  with  them,  it 
^appears  by  her  letters,  during  her  stay  in  Slatersville, 
which  must  have  been  over  two  years ;  for  she  staid 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.  85 

there  until  the  factory  burnt  down,  and  then  of  course 
had  to  depart  iu  search  of  employment.  With  sev- 
eral others  she  removed  to  the  Branch  factory,  a  few 
miles  off.  Here  she  staid  until  the  water  becoming 
very  low,  .there  was  not  steady  employment,  when 
she  removed  to  Millville,  to  the  satinett  factory. 
From  this  place,  only  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from 
Slatersville,  it  will  be  seen  by  her  letters,  she  attend- 
ed her  beloved  Methodist  meeting  at  Slatersville, 
and  appears  to  have  felt  great  joy  at  finding  herself 
so  near  there  again.  No  person  can  read  her  let- 
ters and  suppose  she  feigned  what  she  wrote.  Just 
before  her  leaving  Smithfield,  i.  e.  Slatersville,  Mr. 
Rawson,  her  brother-in-law,  went  and  carried  her 
brother,  who  had  been  absent  several  years  at  New- 
Orleans,  to  visit  her,  and  inquired  of  the  family 
where  she  boarded,  "  how  Maria  got  along?  "  "Very 
well  indeed,  "  was  the  reply,  "  and  much  engaged 
in  religion,"  they  added,  "  and  set  a  very  good  exam- 
ple. " 

While  at  this  place  her  zeal  in  the  cause  of  meet- 
ings continued.  It  appears  she  was  in  the  habit 
of  walking  down  to  Slatersville,  on  all  occasions,  to 
meetings;  and  that  in  the  prayer  meetings  as  well 
as  thoSe  for  exhortation,  she  usually  took  a  part, 
and  was  called  an  active  member.  We  do  not 
know  whether  she  was  censured  at  this  time,  but 
this  fact  we  do  know  from  letters  in  our  possession, 
that  she  was  in  the  habit  of  corresponding  with 
2nethodist  sisters  at  this  time,  and  subsequent  to  it, 
who  were  highly  spoken  of  for  piety  and  consist- 
ence. We  have  some  directed  to  this  last  place, 
and  they  address  her  as  "  worthy  sister,"  and  so- 
licit an  interest  in  her  prayers. 

It   had  been    the   intention  of  Maria   (by  that 


86  FALL  RIVER. 

name  she  was  generally  called)  to   return  to  Sla- 
tersville  as  soon  as    the    new  manufactory  should 
be  completed,  and  never  to  leave  the  people  with 
whom  she    was  connected  there    until  death,  but 
unfortunately  the  works    did    not  keep*  pace  with 
her  impatience ;    she  disliked  the  woollen   factory 
where  she  worked  at  Millviile,  and  one  of  the  girls 
who  had  been  a  favorite  companion  and  sister  in 
the  church  persuaded  her  to  go  to  Lowell,  and  de- 
claring her  determination  to  go  there  first,  which 
she  did  not  however  do  immediately,  as  Maria  came 
to  Providence  to  visit  her  friends,  or  more  particu- 
larly to   visit  her  dear  mother;  and  after  staying 
some  little  time  in  Providence  and  Pawtucket,  re- 
ceived a  line  from   her  friend  urging  her  again  to 
go  to  Lowell,  and   naming  a  place   on    the  road, 
where  they  would  meet  on   a  certain   day  provided 
she  would    comply.     The  place  was  in  Dedham, 
and  here  they  concluded  to  remain,  but  there  being 
no  methodist  meeting,   she  became  discontented, 
and  after   four  weeks  residence  there  proceeded  to 
Dorchester.     What  caused  all  this  delay  in  going  to 
Lowell  is  not  known,  unless  some  guardian  spirit  in- 
terposed and  delayed  her  progress  to  the  place  which 
was  to  consummate   her  destruction.     During  the 
time  of  her  sojourn  in  the  towns  already  mentioned, 
at  several   different  times  she  received  attentions 
from.some  young  man,  who  she  thought  and  others 
thought  wished  to  marry  her.     Many  young  men 
make  a  practice  it  is  well  known  of  amusing  them- 
selves at  the  expense  of  young  women  who  are  ap- 
parently without  friends  and  natural  protectors  to 
call  them  to  account  for  such  baseness  and  compel 
them  to  act  honorably.  S.  M.  Cornell  had  the  curse 
of  beauty,  and  she  was  not  without  admirers.     She 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.  81f 

"was  naturally  of  an  affectionate  and  confiding  dis- 
position. Her  manners  too,  all  partook  of  that  char- 
acter of  fondness  for  which  she  has  been  so  unjustly 
censured.  She  loved  her  mother  and  sisters,  and 
her  letters  bespeak  any  thing  but  a  depraved  heart. 
It  is  an  indisputa])le  fact  that  an  abandoned  woman 
is  w^ithout  natural  affection,  and  we  see  that  she  was 
the  very  reverse  of  this.  Her  letters  she  did  not 
even  know  would  be  preserved.  Little  could  the 
poor,  unfortunate  girl  have  dreamed  of  the  use  here 
made  of  them :  they  were  only  to  meet  the  eye  of 
her  sister  and  her  aged  and  bowed  down  mother. 
It  seemed  as  though  her  affections  sought  constant- 
ly for  some  object  upon  which  to  repose  themselves, 
for  something  to  lavish  that  tenderness  upon  with 
which  her  heart  was  overflowing.  Disappointed  in 
her  first  choice — (which  has  been  basely  insinuated 
was  her  sister's  husband — a  tissue  of  falsehoods 
from  beginning  to  end) — disappointed  in  those 
schemes  of  earthly  happiness  upon  which  her  heart 
had  once  been  set,  she  strove  to  forget  all  but  her 
duty,  and  to  love  God  alone :  nevertheless,  there 
were  time's  when  she  could  not  help,  situated  as  she 
was,  desiring  some  respectable  connexion  and  de- 
cent settlement  in  life ;  and  it  is  believed  that  she 
received  the  attentions  of  several  young  men  who 
professed  to  her  honorable  attachment,  with  the 
laudable  object  in  view  of  obtaining  such  settlement. 
How  different  her  fate  would  have  been  could  she 
have  been  settled  in  life  and  tied  to  the  duties  of  a 
wife  and  mother,  we  cannot  now  say,  but  the  prob- 
ability is  she  would  have  made  a  very  respectable 
figure  in  society,  and  a  much  better  wife  than  ordi- 
nary, owing  to  the  natural  docility  of  her  disposition, 
her  perfect  habitual  good  nature,  and  forbearance 


88  TALL  RIVER. 

and  forgiveness.  But  the  waywardness  of  her  des- 
tiny prevented,  and  perhaps  the  providence  of  God, 
which  sometimes  ordains  partial  evils  to  promote 
some  universal  good,  ordered  it  otherwise. 

The  religion  of  this  ill  fated  girl,  it  will  be  seen 
by  her  letters,  was  a  religion  of  feelings  and  frames. 
Though  there  is  no  doubt  it  was  sincere,  yet  it  was 
of  that  unstable  kind  that  is  most  apt  to  fail  when 
most  needed.     She  had  engaged  in  it  in   a  time  of 
high  excitement,  and  its  existence  was  preserved — • 
whde  it  was  preserved — by  constant  application  of 
the  means  which  created  it :  viz.   by  frequent  atten- 
dance  on  those  exciting    meetings    where  highly 
wrought  feeling   and  sometimes  hysterical  affection 
is  often  mistaken  for  devotion.     While  there,  there 
is  no  doubt  she  thought  herself  in  the  enjoyment  of 
religion ;  and  when  out,  the  mind  and  spirits,  by  a 
natural  reaction,  would  suffer  a  correspondent  de- 
pression, and  the   same  stimulus  must  be  again  re- 
sorted to.     It  will  be  observed  that  the  style  of  the 
letters,  which  follow  this  slight  sketch,  vatied  mate^ 
rially  after  a  years  residence  at  Lowell,  and  were 
less  frequent.     Previous  tothis  date,  during  a  res- 
idence of  more  than  a  year  in  Dorchester,  and  the  one 
year  that  succeded  in  Lowell,  religion  seemed  to  bo 
the  chief  subject  of  her  correspondence;  soon  after 
which,  it  is  evident  the  subject,  for  some  reason  or 
other,  flagged  :  and  her  last  letters,  few  and  far  be- 
tween, do  not  even  make  mention  of  the  subject. 
That  there  was  a  cause  for  this,  no  one  can  doubt. 
She  could    write  of  it  when  in  the  confusion  of  a 
boarding  house,  as  she  says,  with  "sixty  boarders," 
and  sometimes,  nearly  ''  all  gabbling  at  once.  "  But 
something  has  happened  to  damp  her  zeal  now,  or 
conscience    whispers,    ''  Thou  that    preachest    to 
others,  art  thou  a  castaway  ?  " 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.  89 

Thit  she  felt  the  want  of  a  friend,  that  .she  desir- 
ed one,  is  something  so  natural  and  proper  that  we 
cannot  blame  her  for  it.  And  that  the  warm  tide  of 
her  affections  sought  for  rest  on  some  object  was  no 
fault  of  hers,  but  that  they  should  have  centred  at 
last  on  a  married  man,  was  shocking  indeed. 
That  that  man  was  her  minister,  the  person  who 
broke  the  sacramental  bread,  and  presented  the  sa- 
cramental cup,  was  an  aggravation  of  her  crime,  a 
heinous  aggravation.  Although  it  is  to  be  presumed 
one  of  that  sacred  character  might  have  more  influ- 
ence over  the  opinions  of  a  person  than  any  other  ; 
yet  any  attempts  at  familiarity  ought  to  be  doubly 
offensive  in  such,  since  it  proves  at  once  that  he 
is  a  hypocrite. 

As  to  the  opinion  of  attachment  on  the  part  of  S.  M. 
Cornell  towards  her  minister,  we  ground  it  on  these 
facts.  First,  by  her  letters  themselves  ;  not  merely 
because  they  shew  a  decline  in  religious  zeal  at  the 
time  when  we  believe  it  commenced,  but  from  this 
circumstance  :  — that  the  name  of  Avery  is  never 
mentioned  by  her  in  any  of  them.  She  appears  to 
speak  with  freedom  of  other  persons,  and  other  minis- 
ters ;  of  Mr.  Taylor,  Oathman,  Maffit  and  others ;  but 
his  name  she  studiously  avoids.  She  was  not  only 
three  years  at  Lowell,  the  greater  part  of  which  time 
she  sat  under  his  daily  and  nightly  ministrations,  but 
she  heard  him  at  Great  Falls  and  in  other  places  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Boston.  Yet  his  name  never  es- 
capes her  pen.  There  must  be  some  reason  for  this. 
As  has  been  said,  she  seemed  to  contrive  to  be  some- 
where within  the  range  of  his  preaching  from  the 
first  of  her  acquaintance  with  him.  Whether  it  was 
by  her  contrivance  or  his  however,  it  is  impossible 
for  us  to  say,  since  she  cannot  tell,  and  he  wont  tell. 


90  FALL  RIVER. 

How  the  intimacy  commenced,  and  whether  it  was 
of  a  criminal  nature  previous  to  the  Camp-Meeting 
at  Thompson,  we  believe  no  one  has  taken  upon 
themselves  positively  to  say ;  but  from  what  is  related 
of  the  circumstances  of  their  intimacy,  every  one  can 
judge.  The  Parson,  it  is  said,  was  a  very  polite  man 
to  females,  frequently  inviting  some  one  of  them  to 
ride  to  a  meeting  or  an  evening  lecture  with  him  in 
his  covered  Carryall,  and  that  he  sometimes  did  the 
deceased  the  honor  of  riding  with  her.  It  will  be 
recollected  that  at  the  Bristol  examination  Avery  or 
some  of  his  friends  stated  the  fact  that  S.  M.  Cor- 
nell had  lived  a  short  time  in  his  family,  but  that 
Mrs.  Avery  was  not  satisfied  with  her,  and  she  had 
been  dismissed. 

At  the  time  the  sheriff  passed  through  Lowell  in 
pursuit  of  Avery,  after  his  flight  from  justice,  he 
learnt  some  very  important  particulars  respecting 
this  and  others  connected  with  it,  and  afterwards 
proposed  laying  it  before  the  court  upon  his  trial,, 
but  was  told  they  were  inadmissible,  since  it  was 
not  any  particular  act  of  impropriety  in  the  priso- 
ner's life,  previous  to  the  commission  of  the  crime 
for  which  he  stood  indicted,  but  his  general  charac- 
ter which  they  wished  to  know,  and  which  could 
alone  in  this  case  be  considered  as  evidence.  And 
as  the  sheriff  was  not  prepared  to  prove  that  his 
general  character,  or  that  of  any  other  preacher, 
was  that  of  a  rake,  he  of  course  kept  it  back:  some  of 
this  found  its  way  afterwards  into  the  public  papers 
of  the  day,  and  upon  examination,  the  facts  appear 
to  be  these. 

First,  that  S.  M.  Cornell  was  a  resident  in  the 
family  ofE.  K.  Avery  about  a  week,  and  that  dur- 
ing that  time  he  used  to  come  out  of^her  room  after 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.        91 

ten  o'clock  at  night;  and  that  the  family,  on  being 
questioned  upon  the  subject,  gave  as  a  reason  "  that 
she  was  ill,  and  sent  for  him  to  come  in  and  pray 
with  her." 

Seconly,  that  his  wife,  though  habitually  a  mild, 
forbearing  woman,  on  this  occasion  rose,  and  posi- 
tively declared  ''  she  would  not  have  the  girl  in  the 
house  any  longer,"  when  she  went  away. 

Thirdly,  that  it  was  customary  for  him  to  be  shut 
in  his  study  with  some  young  woman  or  other  al- 
most every  day ;  sometimes  several,  in  the  course  of 
the  day.  Very  seldom  any  of  these  were  seen  by 
his  wife  ;  but  that  unfortunate  woman  was  often  seen 
with  eyes  red  and  swollen,  as  though  she  had  re- 
cently been  in  tears  ;  and  though  used  to  speak 
mildly,  she  never  mentioned  the  name  of  S.  M.  Cor- 
nell but  with  evident  resentment  and  bitterness  of 
feeling,  even  after  she  had  gone  from  there. 

Fourthly,  that  he  was  in  the  habit  of  keeping 
very  late  hours;  being  out  without  his  wife;  and 
giving  no  satisfactory  account  of  himself,  not  even 
to  the  family  in  the  house,  whose  rest  he  often  dis- 
turbed, by  obliging  them  to  sit  up  for  him,  as  they 
did  not  feel  safe  to  retire  and  leave  the  front  door 
unfastened :  that  on  one  occasion,  after  returning 
from  their  own  prayer  meeting,  at  nine  o'clock, 
(the  time  such  meetings  usually  close,)  and  setting 
up*  for  Avery  until  after  eleven,  they  retired,  and 
he  behaved  with  most  unbecoming  passion,  beating 
and  banging  the  door  as  though  he  would  stave  it 
in,  and  that  the  owner  of  the  house  hurried  to  let 
him  in   as  quick  as  possible,   and  then  retreated  ; 

*  Nothing  of  this  sort  is  credited  by  the  author,  or  mentioned, 
without  sufficient  proof.  Should  it  be' nsressan,',  those  proofs  ran 
be  corning  forthwith. 

r 


92  FALL  RIVER, 

when  Avery  entered,  flung  the  door  too,  and  snatch- 
ing the  key  from  the  lock,  carried  it  to  his  cham- 
ber. The  master  of  the  house  followed  him,  and 
made  him  return  the  key.  These  things,  together 
with  others  of  an  aggravating  nature  determined  the 
family  not  to  reside  any  longer  tinder  the  same  roof, 
but  having  a  chance  to  sell  the  house,  they  removed 
and  left  him  in  it.  That  it  was  not  wholly  on  ac- 
count of  his  late  hours,  so  unbecoming  in  a  clergy- 
man, but  on  account  of  other  things  which  they  dis- 
liked ;  one  of  which  was  the  frequent  closetings  v.'ith 
young  women  in  the  study,  which  stood  at  the  head 
of  the  stairs  and  contained  a  bed  ;  and  was  rather 
remote  from  the  sitting  room  and  lodging  room  of  his 
wife,  having  to  pass  through  the  front  entry  and 
front  room,  and  a  passage  way,  to  get  to  the  kitch-^ 
en  where  Mrs.  Avery  usually  staid  and  lodged. 

We  do  not  place  so  much  confidence  in  other 
things  coming  from  a  child,  as  they  did,  children 
being  so  prone  to  exaggerate  and  misrepresent ;  yet 
it  appears  the  little  boy  of  Avery,  after  having  ac- 
companied him  on  one  of  his  rides,  said  on  his  re- 
turn, ''  Pa  kissed  Sarah  Maria  Cornell  on  the  road : " 
and  that  the  feelings  of  the  gentleman  in  the  house 
•^vvere  considerably  tried  upon  observing  at  one  time 
a  wonderful  alteration  in  the  horse  usually  rode  by 
him.  His  little  boy  accounted  for  it,  by  saying; 
that "  the  horse  kicked  his  father,  and  he  drove  two 
spikes  into  the  floor  and  tied  his  heels  down,  and 
kept  him  there  two  days  without  anything  to  eat  or 
drink.*  Of  course,  much  was  said  respecting  this 
man  which  was  false  :  there  is  no  one   so  base  but 

*  It  appears  that  Avery  is  still  famous  for  his  treatment  ef 
horses.  Few  of  his  cloth  would  be  seen  to  stop  in  the  open  street, 
get  out,  take  his  coat  off,  and  beat  a  horse  in  the  manner  he  has 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.  93 

may,  after  all,  be  slandered.  For  instance,  the  sto- 
ry of  the  mysterious  and  sudden  death  of  his  first 
wife  must  have  been  altogether  false,  for  we  cannot 
find  that  he  ever  had  but  one  wife.  There  is 
enough  of  what  justly  belongs  to  this  unhappy  man, 
without  any  effort  of  imagination  to  add  to  it. 

We  have  but  one  remark  to  make  respecting  the 
intimacy  at  the  house,  which  is,  that  if  an  intrigue 
commenced  at  his  own  house,  at  that  time ;  that  if 
it  was  indeed  true  she  used  to  send  for  him  at  that 
hour  of  the  night  to  come  to  her  room  to  pray  with 
her,  she  courted  destruction,  and  might  almost  be 
said  to  deserve  the  fate  it  is  supposed  she  met  with 
at  his  hands.  If,  on  the  contrary,  he  stole  into  her 
room,  without  an  invitation,  the  case  might  be  a  lit- 
tle different.  That  he  was  there,  I  suppose  to  be 
a  fact.  That  she  cherished  an  uncommon  regard 
for  him,  criminal  as  that  affection  was  in  her  case, 
was  evinced,  as  Doct.  Wilbour  observed,  **  by  the 
absence  of  resentful  feelings.  "  It  was  strange  in- 
deed, if  she  had  suffered  the  injury  she  complained 
of,  at  the  Camp  Meeting,  without  manifesting  any 
resentment  afterwards,  she  should,  on  the  contrary, 
uniformily  speak  of  him  and  his  family  with  tender- 
ness, and  above  all  things  seem  not  to  desire  to  ex- 
pose him.  It  may  be  enquired,  if  this  were  the  case, 
why  did  she  leave  that  little  bit  of  paper  to  direct,  if 
she  was  missing  to  enquire  of  him  ?  To  that  we 
answer,  that  our  heavenly  Father  has  implanted  a 
something  within  us,  that  never  fails  to  warn  us  of 
approaching  danger  :  some  call   it  "a  presentiment 

recently  done  in  Bristol.  "  The  merciful  man  is  merciful  to  h^ 
beast.  "  Though  the  story  of  the  boy  might  not  be  correct,  yet  it 
was  said  the  appearance  of  the  horse  warranted  the  conclsuion 
that  it  was  so. 


94  .   PALL  RIVER. 

of  evil.  "  But  in  her  case  there  was  something  to 
fear  exclusive  of  any  resentment ;  that  was,  if  her 
tale  was  true — if  she  had  once  had  poison  recom- 
mended her,  and  been  warned  by  him  who  tokl  her 
not  to  take  it,  neither  to  go  to  Bristol,  nor  to  put 
herself  in  his  power,  but  to  have  him  come  to  her 
fairly  and  honourably,  and  settle  it — if  she  had  re- 
ceived this  warning,  she  could  not  but  have  some 
fear.  It  was  neither  fair  nor  honourable  in  the  first 
place,  to  ask  a  female  to  go  to  that  cold,  lonely  place 
on  a  dark  evening.  She  knew,  probably,  it  was  a 
fearful  thing  under  such  circumstances,  or  indeed 
under  any,  to  go  there  to  an  assignation.  The  dark, 
deep  waters  of  Mount  Hope  bay  rolled  below,  and 
it  would  have  been  as  easy  to  give  one  a  plunge 
there,  as  to  have  poured  down  a  dose  of  tansy  oil. 

That  she  had  peculiar  feelings  of  regard  for  this 
man  may  be  inferred  from  the  speech  she  made  to 
Benjamin  H.  Saunders  also.  It  does  not  appear 
there  was  any  positive  proof  of  any  thing  criminal 
in  her  conduct  while  at  Lov^ell,  by  any  testimony 
on  the  trial,  if  we  except  the  testimony  of  the  phy- 
sician before  named. 

It  seems  S.  M.  Cornell  was  expelled  from  meet- 
ing while  absent  at  a  Camp  Meeting  on  Cape  Cod  ; 
and  Avery  tells,  that  he  '*  advised  her  to  go  away 
while  the  process  was  going  on  against  her  : "  but 
if  the  complaint  was  made  against  her  previously,  it 
was  the  height  of  impudence,  to  say  no  more  of  it, 
to  suffer  her  to  go  to  such  a  place,  where  the  facili- 
ties for  vice  are  so  great.  There  cannot  be,  per- 
haps, exhibited,  a  greater  proof  of  superstition,  than 
the  offer  of  this  girl  to  make  an  acknowledgment 
to  the  meeting  of  what  she,  at  the  same  time,  sol- 
emnly declares  herself  to  be  innocent  of,  merely  for 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.        95 

the  sake  of  being  in  church  membership  :  for  it  was 
upon  those  conditions  she  offered  it.  As  though  to 
be  out  of"  the  pale  of  the  church  was  to  be  excluded 
from  salvation.  Her  own  words  were  said  to  be 
these,  in  a  letter  to  Avery,  where  she  gives  a  cir- 
cumstantial and  satisfactory  account  of  her  inter- 
views with  the  physician  : — "yet  I  will  confess  all, 
if  I  can  only  be  continued  in  the  church.  "  Some 
suppose  that  the  desire  to  be  near  a  certain  m  inis- 
ter  of  that  church  was  the  great  inducement,  and 
that  for  his  sake,  or  for  the  sake  of  being  near  him, 
she  was  willing  to  endure  any  disgrace,  and  would 
have  signed  any  thing  but  her  death  warrant.  There 
is  one  anecdote,  which  has  been  related  to  the  wri- 
ter of  this,  which  proves  she  could  not  have  been 
the  abandoned  creature  represented  previous  to  this. 
S.  M.  Cornell,  at  one  of  the  places  where  she  lived, 
worked  in  the  employ  of  two  brothers,  partners  in 
an  establishment.  Something  had  been  said  in 
their  hearing  about  her  not  being  prudent;  and  the 
oldest  formed  the  resolution  to  find  out  how  far  her 
imprudence  extended.  He  accordingly  put  himself 
repeatedly  in  her  way,  and  at  last  insulted  her  with 
the  declaration  of  his  passion,  which  she  resented 
firmly,  and  with  some  bitter  reproaches.  (They 
were  both  married  men.)  The  older  confided  the 
affair  to  the  younger,  who  felt  piqued  to  try  himself. 
He  accordingly  commenced  a  regular  siege  :  but  in 
the  moment  when  he  thought  himself  sure  of  suc- 
cess, met  with  a  still  more  severe  repulse  than  his 
brother.  Upon  comparing  notes,  they  agreed  it  was 
only  because  they  were  married  men ;  but  as  they 
felt  somewhat  in  her  power,  concluded  that  it  was 
not  prudent  to  have  her  there.  They  accordingly 
gave  her  a  hint  her  services  were  no  longer  wanted 


96  FALL  RIVER. 

after  which,  being  questioned  with  respect  to  her 
departure,  said  "  she  was  rather  too  fond  of  young 
men:"  though,  as  the  gentleman  said  who  related  this 
and  who,  being  in  their  employ,  overheard  the  con- 
versation between  them,  when  they  agreed  to  get  rid 
of  her,  "  he  did  not  know  what  proof  they  had  of 
her  being  fond  of  young  men,  except  that  she  did 
not  like  old  ones.'' 

Various  anecdotes  too  have  been  related  to  the 
author  respecting  the  charity,  kindness  of  heart  and 
gentle  disposition  of  S.  M.  Cornell :  but  they  would 
swell  this  volume  beyond  the  bounds  allotted  to  a 
work  of  this  kind.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  from  all 
accounts,  it  appears  her  hand  was  ever  open  to  the 
suffering  poor,  according  to  her  slender  means ;  that 
she  was  liberal  to  the  society  of  which  she  was  a 
member,  and  who  did  not  disdain  to  receive  of  the 
pittance  which  her  labour  produced,  towards  promo- 
ting Methodism,  whatever  they  may  have  thought  of 
her  character  ;  that  she  was  kind  to  the  sick  and 
afflicted ;  and  retained  a  most  affectionate  regard 
towards  her  relatives,  through  the  whole  of  her  long 
absence  from  them.* 

From  Lowell  she  went  to  Great  Falls,  N.  H.  and 

*  One  woman,  who  has  been  very  bitter  against  S.  M.  Cornell, 
and  helped,  it  appears,  to  injure  her  at  Lowell,  gave  as  a  reason 
to  tlie  author  for  thinking  her  bad,  that  she  used  to  go  up  to  Bos- 
ton, sometimes,  of  a  Saturday  afternoon,  on  pretence  of  attending 
meetings  "  to  hear  good  preaching,"  as  she  called  it,  and  return 
Monday  morning, "  looking  completely  exhau^ed  and  worn  out.'* 
I  was  amazed  to  hear  such  a  reason  given,  knowing  it  must  be 
great  exertion,  after  tending  three  or  four  looms  through  the  week 
to  ride  twenty-five  miles  Saturday  evening,  or  afternoon,  and  then 
attend  four  or  five  meetings  on  the  Sabbath  and  ride  back  again 
next  morning.  That,  I  have  no  doubt,  was  the  fact;  and  if  there 
is  any  female  able  to  endure  it,  without  feeling  fatigue  and  exhaus- 
tion, and  shewing  it  too,  they  must  be  hardy  indeed. 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.        97 

here  the  same  contradiction  occurs  with  respect  to 
what  was  said  of  her.  A  very  decent  and  respecta- 
ble young  man  who  boarded  with  her  the  whole 
time  of  her  residence  there,  has  testified  to  the  au- 
thor, that  he  never  knew"  of  any  thing  being  said  or 
thought  there,  to  her  disadvantage ;  that  her  con- 
duct, and  he  saw  her  daily,  was  as  as  becoming  as 
that  of  any  female  he  ever  was  acquainted  with. 
Two  respectable  females  too,  who  saw  much  of  her 
during  that  time,  testify  to  the  same.  Likewise  at 
Taunton,  where  she  next  went,  and  where  she  had 
a  place  of  considerable  trust,  having  to  keep  the 
books  of  the  weaving  room,  her  character  and  con- 
duct was  respectable.  So  persons,  who  boarded 
and  worked  in  the  same  room,  with  her,  testified 
that  *'  she  was  much  made  of,"  as  he  expressed  it, 
and  visited  in  very  respectable  company  in  the 
place. 

While  on  a  visit  to  her  brother  Rawson's  in 
Woodstock,  it  was  remarked  that  her  conduct  was 
strickly  proper  by  the  young  men  working  with  her 
brother,  as  well  as  by  other  members  of  the  family ; 
by  customers  at  the  shop  and  visiters  at  the  house ; 
and  especially  by  Mr.  Cornell,  the  Congregational- 
ist  clergyman,  who,  living  quite  near,  was  often  in, 
and  held  frequent  dialo^rues  with  her  upon  the  sub- 
ject of  Methodist  principles  and  discipline,  for  which 
she,  of  course,  was  a  great  stickler,  and  they  obser- 
ved, defended  the  cause  with  considerable  skill.* 

Previous  to  the  fatal  Camp  Meeting,  at  Thompson, 
it  seems  her  conduct  there  was  without  suspicion ; 

*  A  paper,  containing  a  certificate  from  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cornell  ia 
mislaid;  but  I  recollect  it  testifies  to  the  above  fact,  and  to  his 
opinion  of  her  being  a  christian  previous  to  the  communication 
iuade  to  him  by  the  family,  after  the  Camp  Meeting. 


:98  FALL   RIVER. 

and  could  she  have  rested  content  without  another  in- 
terview with  Avery,  it  is  probable  this  last  final  work 
of  destruction  might  have  been  avoided.  We  have 
however  the  charity  for  her  to  believe,  her  intentions 
at  this  time  to  lead  a  new  life  were  sincere,  and  that 
the  interview,  if  planned  by  her,  was  only  to  obtain 
the  letter  of  acknowledgment  which  it  seems  she 
had  been  influenced  to  write.  That  letter,  she 
found  was  having  a  fatal  effect  upon  her  character, 
and  what  was  of  more  consequence  in  her  own  view, 
was  depriving  her  of  her  communion  with  the  church; 
to  secure  which  privilege  she  seems  to  have  written 
it,  expecting  that  the  command  of  scripture  to  for- 
give all  who  confess  and  ask  forgiveness,  would  be 
literally  obeyed.  By  the  testimony  of  Benjamin 
Saunders,  who  lived  there  and  was  in  the  habit  of 
going  to  the  post  office  for  her,  it  appears  she  cor- 
responded with  a  minister  in  Bristol,  previous  to  the 
Camp  Meeting ;  who  the  minister  was  admits  not 
of  a  doubt,  especially  as  she  requested  him  to  keep 
it  a  secret,  and  by  no  means  to  let  her  sister  know. 
He  recollected  the  circumstance  by  a  speech  from 
her  highly  characteristic;  on  occasion  of  carrying 
■one  of  them  to  the  office,  said  he,  "  I  would  not  pay 
postage  for  a  minister,  should  think  he  was  able  to 
pay  it  himself"  She  answered,  "  I  want  to  help 
the  minister  all  I  can." 

Through  all  the  \icissitudesof  life  woman  will  be 
woman  still.  Of  the  tenderness  of  woman's  heart" 
man  can  seldom  form  an  idea  ;  here  was  an  instance. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  girl  had  great 
cause  of  resentment  towards  the  person  she  had 
been  writing  to,  and  very  possibly  she  wrote  in  harsh 
terms,  requiring  him  to  come,  and  bring  that  letter 
of  acknowledgment  with  him  ;  but  come  to  the  trial, 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.  99 

that  resentment  could  not  even  enable  her  to  lay 
upon  him  the  burthen  of  paying  the  postage  of  a 
letter.  No  wonder  she  made  so  many  objections  to 
naming  a  large  sum  as  the  settlement  with  her, 
which  the  benevolent  physician  of  Fall  River  re- 
commended ;  she  could  not  endure  the  causing  him 
inconvenience.  That  fatal  tenderness  too,  doubtless 
betrayed  her  at  the  camp  ground  ;  perhaps,  and  let 
us  in  charity  suppose  it,  she  meant  from  hencefor- 
ward to  leave  the  path  of  sin,  and  walk  in  that  nar- 
row one  that  leads  to  life,  and  trusted  to  her  reso- 
lutions to  meet  and  part  with  him  without  any  ac- 
tions that  virtue  could  condemn ;  the  sight  of  him 
put  all  her  good  resolutions  to  flight,  and  that  beguile- 
ing  tenderness  again  plunged  her  into  misery  and 
irremediable  distress.  Her  only  road  to  safety 
would  have  been  in  not  seeing  him  at  all.  Gone 
was  the  look  of  cheerfulness  she  was  wont  to  wear  ; 
it  was  evident  something  pressed  heavy  on  her  heart. 
The  sense  of  her  crime  and  the  dread  of  its  conse- 
quences at  length  impelled  her  to  yield  to  the  solic- 
itations of  her  affectionate  sister,  and  confide  to  her 
the  humiliating  cause  of  her  grief  and  anxiety  ;  that 
sister  who  had  but  one  heart  and  mind  with  her 
husband,  immediately  sought  counsel  of  him.  What 
to  do,  or  how  to  conduct  themselves  in  such  a  strange 
case  they  scarce  knew,  and  the  brother  finally  re- 
solved to  ask  counsel  of  his  pastor,  and  subsequently 
of  another  friend,  an  attorney  in  the  neighborhood. 
They  advised  her  immediate  removal  into  the  State 
of  llhode-lsland  where  Avery  resided ;  and  the 
brother  feeling  a  delicacy  about  her  remaining  in 
the  shop  where  his  young  men  were,  willingly  acce- 
ded to  the  plan.  She  herself  proposed  to  go  to  Fall 
River  and  work  there  in  a  factory  while  able  to  work. 


100  FALL  RIVER. 

and  until  he  should  make  some  provision  for  her. 
Here  she  lived  for  about  two  months  without  re- 
proach or  suspicion,  being  perfectly  correct,  as  every 
one  supposed  who  saw  her,  in  her  conduct.  In  the 
respectable  house  where  she  boarded,  and  where 
there  was  a  small  family  consisting  of  females,  she 
was  much  beloved,  having  won  their  regard  by  the 
gentlenj^ss  of  her  manners  and  the  apparent  amia- 
bility of  her  temper.  To  the  daughter  of  this  fam- 
ily in  particular,  she  was  in  the  habit  of  speaking 
with  some  confidence,  when  she  showed  those  cele- 
brated letters  of  different  colors  mentioned  in  the 
trial.  This  young  lady  remarked  the  pink  and  yel- 
low ones  appeared  to  be  written  by  different  hands, 
and  that  one  looked  like  a  lady's  hand — and  that 
S.  M.  Cornell  answered,  "  but  they  are  both  written 
by  one  hand,  by  a  gentleman  in  Bristol."  This  an- 
swer the  witness  was  about  to  repeat  in  court,  when 
she  was  stopped  by  the  prisoner's  counsel.  She, 
(S.  M.  C.)  told  them  several  times  that  she  was  only 
waiting  for  some  money  she  was  expecting  to  re- 
ceive, when  she  should  leave  Fall  River.  The  flut- 
ter of  spirits,  which  made  her  on  the  last  day  of  her 
life  more  cheerful  than  usual  may  be  easily  account- 
ed for.  She  came  out  of  the  mill  early  and  changed 
her  clothes,  and  then  probably  wrote  that  little  strip 
of  paper,  "  If  I  am  missing  enquire  of  Rev.  E.  K. 
Avery."  Her  habitual  politeness  never  deserted 
her  ;  even  then  while  drinking  tea,  which  was  got 
early  for  her  at  her  request,  she  said,  ''  It  is  not 
very  polite  for  me  to  be  drinking  tea  here  alone  I 
know,  before  the  rest,  but  I  am  in  such  a  hurry," 
and  turning  to  the  oldest  sister,  she  said  as  she  went 
out,  "  I  think  I  shall  be  back  as  soon  now,  as  Lucy 
returns  from  the  factory."  Alas!  she  returned  no 
more. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


Of  the  birth,  parentage  and  early  life  of  E.  K. 
Avery,  we  know  nothing,  except  that  we  are  inform- 
ed he  was  the  son  of  a  revolutionary  soldier  ;  if  that 
be  the  case  every  one  must  rejoice  he  was  spared 
the  fate  that  threatened  him  in  May,  1833.  It  would 
indeed  be  a  kind  of  blot  upon  the  history  of  the 
brave  defenders  of  our  soil,  that  one  of  their  children 
should  come  to  such  an  ignominious  punishment, 
since  it  is  the  disgrace  that  constitutes  the  evil  with 
men,  though  with  God  it  is  the  sin.  We  are  sorry 
to  say  we  have  so  little  account  of  the  early  years  of 
a  man  who  has  made  so  much  noise  in  the  world; 
but  from  the  time  we  can  get  any  thing  of  his  histo- 
ry, there  seems  to  be  something  in  almost  every 
place  that  goes  to  prove  him  a  bad  tempered,  daring 
and  unprincipled  man.  As  to  his  person  and  ad- 
dress we  know  nothing  of  them,  but  we  conclude 
they  must  be  extremely  imposing,  at  least  to  the 
people  he  is  among,  since  he  seems  to  have  been 
approbated  and  upheld  by  them  on  all  occasions,  ex- 
cept one ;  it  seems  he  has  been  baffled  once,  and 
that  was  by  a  woman.  Report  says  he  studied  the 
science  of  medicine,  previous  to  his  becoming  a 
preacher,  but  whether  he  ever  commenced  practice 
previous  to  the  20th  of  December  is  not  known ;  we 
have  not  heard  of  any  of  his  performances  since 
that  date. 


}02  FALL    RIVER. 

The  first  we  know  of  E.  K,  Avery  he  is  preach- 
ing in  Duxbury,  Mass.  and  from  thence  he  removed 
to  Scituate,  Mass.  in  1827,  and  took  charge  of  the 
methodist  society  in  that  place.  Among  the  people 
who  now  sat  under  his  ministry  was  a  maiden  lady 
of  about  five  and  forty,  who  sustained  a  very  high 
reputation  for  piety  as  well  as  for  what  they  style 
her  gifts.  She  was  one  of  those  active,  useful  wo- 
men whose  exertions  were  always  called  in,  and  al- 
ways freely  bestowed,  wherever  distress  of  mind  or 
body  required  relief  of  any  kind.  The  young  re- 
sorted to  her  for  counsel,  and  the  established  chris- 
tian for  encouragement.  She  v/as  as  report  said, 
not  only  a  woman  active  in  meetings  and  by  the  side 
of  the  sick  and  the  dying,  but  what  is  extremely 
difficult,  she  supported  on  all  occasions,  a  character 
for  consistency  that  went  far  to  make  her  labors  suc- 
cessful. Of  course  the  new  minister  soon  discover- 
ed the  real  character  of  this  lady  ;  he  not  only  heard 
her  praises  from  every  quarter,  and  witnessed  her 
zeal,  but  he  was  also  enabled  to  appreciate  her  ex- 
cellence by  personal  acquaintance.  She  was  evi- 
dently a  woman  of  great  spirit  naturally,  but  so 
humble  and  subdued  by  the  influence  of  real  piety, 
that  the  very  belief  that  this  was  the  case  could 
not  fail  in  a  sensible  and  candid  person  to  increase 
respect  for  her.  She  w^as  not  a  woman  in  depen- 
dant circumstances  by  any  means,  so  there  was 
no  way  to  torture  her  or  try  her  disposition  that  way  ; 
she  was  past  the  bloom  of  youth  if  not  the  meredian 
of  life,  and  thought  not  of  conquests — of  rivalship 
and  admiration  ;  so  there  was  no  way  to  pique  her 
in  those — but  humbled  she  must  be,  something  must 
be  done  to  try  her  temper  until  she  proved  herself 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.       105 

mortal  and  no  belter  than  otlier  folks.  The  new 
minister  took  a  terrible  dislike  to  her  from  the 
very  first.  He  thought  "  the  people  put  too  much 
confidence  in  her,"  and  averred  "  that  he  would  see 
she  was  not  made  a  goddess  of."  Whether  her 
deportment  was  such  as  to  shame  some — a  standing 
reproach  to  some  others,  who  ought  at  least  to  be  as 
consistent,  or  whether  he  thought  others  would  rise 
higher  if  she  fell,  or  whether  she  was  one  of  those 
provoking  women  who  have  the  faculty  of  reading 
characters  at  a  glance,  or  from  whatever  cause  we 
cannot  say,  but  certain  it  is  the  Rev.  E.  K.  Avery 
labored  from  the  first  of  his  going  to  Scituate  to  de- 
stroy this  woman's  good  name,  and  thereby  lessen 
her  influence  ;  at  first  the  dislike  was  only  vented 
in  a  few  sneering  remarks  to  her  disadvantage^ 
which  she  immediately  heard  of;  those  remarks  be- 
ing wholly  unprovoked  could  not  fail  to  create  a  de- 
gree of  resentment  in  the  object  of  them.  During 
this  frame  it  so  chanced  that  the  minister  met  her 
one  evening  at  a  prayer  meeting,  where  he  hap- 
pened to  call  just  after  visiting  the  house  of  a  parish- 
ioner who  had  lately  lost  his  wife.  In  the  course 
of  the  conversation  he  observed  that  "the  husband 
(who  was  somewhat  intemperate)  v/ill  soon  drown 
his  sorrow."  The  lady  upon  returning  to  her  lodg- 
ings, which  was  with  a  niece  of  this  bereaved  hus- 
band, repeated  the  remark ;  it  was  again  repeated 
and  created  some  little  unpleasant  feeling  towards 
Avery  for  what  they  judged  rather  unfeeling  and 
ill  timed.  His  (Avery's)  resentment  against  the 
woman  was  now  at  its  height ;  he  had  something 
to  seize  upon,  and  although  she  blamed  herself 
exceedingly  for  her  own  imprudence  in  mentioning 

6 


104  FALL  RIVER. 

his  random  speech,  and  with  much  humility  asked 
his  forgiveness,  &c.  yet  it  nothing  mollified  his  ire. 
His  hatred  had  now  broke  out  into  acts  of  hostility, 
and  he  commenced  writing  letters  to  various  persons 
in  Duxbury  and  elsewhere,  to  try  to  get  her  expelled 
from  the  church,  but  all  to  no  purpose.  The  woman, 
nothing  daunted  stood  her  ground  manfully,  and 
defied  him  to  the  proof  of  what  he  had  asserted, 
viz.  ''that  she  had  been  guilty  of  lying  and  unchris- 
tian con(iuct,  and  exercising  ungodly  and  unholy 
tempers,"  <Slc.  The  matter  was  before  the  parent 
church  at  Duxbury,  a  long  time,  many  letters  passed 
between  Avery  and  Mr.  Madge,  as  well  as  with  oth- 
ers on  the  subject,  but  nothing  could  be  proved 
against  the  woman,  and  it  finally  resulted  in  her 
coming  off  with  honor,  and  with  a  certificate  of  her 
good  standing.  ■  How  they  managed  to  retain  Avery 
in  his  standing  after  his  failing  to  substantiate  his 
charges  we  cannot  tell,  but  that  was  their  business. 
The  certificate  made  no  mention  of  the  recent  triaJ 
and  its  result,  but  merely  stated  what  they  could  not 
avoid  stating,  that  she  was  in  good  standing  in  the 
meeting. — It  was  as  follows  : 

Duxbury,  April  12th,  1831. 
This  may  certify,  that  Fanny  Winsor,  the  bearer» 
is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  iii 
Duxbury,  and   is  recommended  as  such  by  me  the 
subscriber.  ENOCH  MUDGE, 

Minister  in  charge  of  said  Church.. 

The  church  now  located  in  Scituate  has  since  had 
a  recommendation  of  Miss  Winsor,  from  that  m 
Duxbury,  signed  by  Daniel  Fillmore,  in  behalf  of  the 
church  in  Duxbury.     Report  said  that  the  friends- 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.       105 

of  the  lady  were  not  satisfied  with  the  proceedings 
of  the  meeting  altogether,  inasmuch  as  he  had  no 
censure  passed  on  liim  for  bringing  those  false  char- 
ges, and  that  they  wished  her  to  go  to  law  for  re- 
dress, as  they  thought  what  he  had  said  was  calcu- 
lated to  injure  not  only  her  religious  but  moral  char- 
acter— and  from  a  letter  to  Avery  which  she  wrote 
in  1830,  it  appears  she  then  threatened  some  such 
remedy,  that  is  as  we  understand  her  language — 
The  letter  was  as  follows  : 

To  the  Rev.  E.  K.  Avery. 

SciTUATE,  March  24th,  1830. 

Sir — I  address  you  from  the  purest  motives  of  my 
heart,  and  under  circumstances  peculiarly  aggrava- 
ting. Your  conduct  towards  me  urges  me  to  use 
my  pen,  which  otherwise  would  have  remained  si- 
lent— this  I  do  in  my  own  defence.  The  charges 
against  me,  in  writing  from  you  to  brother  Mudge, 
he  informs  me  are  three.  The  first  relates  to  a  cir- 
cumstance that  happened  three  years  ago  this 
month,*  respecting  Benjamin  James. t  Now  look  at 
it  candidly  and  see  if  you  have  experienced  the  right 
spirit.  As  respects  the  case,  did  I  not  confess  at 
the  time  you  brought  up  the  accusation  against  me 
in  the  presence  of  my  sister  Susan — that  I  repeated 
your  words  inconsiderately,  and  was  sorry,  and  said 
•*'  any  compensation  you  requested  I  was  willing  to 
make,  even  at  your  feet,"  and  you  would  not  |  be 
reconciled — does  not  this  bespeak  that  you  would 

♦This  persecution  of  Miss  Winsor  actually  continued  upwards 
of  four  years. 

fThe  person  who  Avery  mentioned"  would  drown  his  sorrow.'* 

:}:Nothin5  can  exhibit  in  stronger  colors  the  ridiculous  veneratiou 
in  which  they  hold  their  ministers — at  his  feet  truly  !  ! 


i06  FALL  RIVER. 

not  forgive.  Reflect — what  does  the  gospel  you 
profess  to  preach  say  :  "  If  we  offend  seventy  times, 
and  repent  and  ask  forgiveness  we  should  be  forgiv- 
en." Are  not  these  the  words  of  our  Savior,  whose 
image  we  ought  to  bear. 

The  second  charge  I  think  brother  Mudge  tells 
me,  was  "  indulging  unholy  and  ungodly  temper." 
This  I  am  confident  was  a  false  charge,  as  I  know  of 
no  time  whatever  that  I  had  any  conversation  with 
you,  after  that  in  my  shop,  in  the  presence  of  Susan, 
and  I  leave  it  to  her  if  there  was  any  thing  of  that 
manifested  at  that  time — no,  I  was  too  much  woun- 
ded in  soul  to  indulge  unholy  temper.  Your  con- 
versation towards  me  was  like  barbed  arrows.  What 
past  God  was  a  witness  to,  and  his  justice  will  be 
satisfied ;  for  he  judgeth  impartially.  I  can  say  in 
his  presence  and  his  spirit  accompanying  me,  I  do 
feel  ckar  of  this  charge.  I  know  not  what  you 
have  been  informed  by  unholy  people,  that  are  plot- 
ters of  mischief — they  must  see  to  it. 

The  rest  I  think  was  a  charge  of  ''  talking  to 
your  disadvantage."  This  charge  is  as  empty  of 
truth  as  the  other  :  The  most  I  have  said  is  this. 
When  tale-bearers  have  brought  to  me,  what  they 
say,  you  have  said,  I  have  replied,  "  how  can  I  hear 
such  a  man  preach  1  that  bears  such  a  spirit  ?  No 
I  cannot !  No  nor  will  not — under  existing  circum- 
stances. And  I  say  so  now,  unless  I  view  the  sub- 
ject differently.  Sir  the  many  times  you  have  been 
to  this  place,  you  have  not  so  much  as  changed  a 
word  with  me  on  the  subject  since  the  time  first 
mentioned,  but  if  I  am  rightly  informed,  said  behind 
my  back,  what  you  had  ought  to  have  said  to  my 
face.     I  am  sure  there  has  not  been  any  time  since 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.       107 

the  first  awful  moment  but  what  I  should  have  been 
glad  to  have  settled  the  affair  and  buried  it  in  obliv- 
ion. 

But  sad  to  relate,  you  seem  to  lay  the  axe  at  the 
root  of  my  moral  and  religious  character  by  this  last 
move.  This  prompts  me  to  take  proper  steps  to 
vindicate  my  own  cause,  and  clear  up  my  charac- 
ter. 

I  am  ready  to  settle  it  upon  any  consistent  terms 
short  of  the  law,  that  you  are  willing  to.  But  if  I 
hear  no  more  of  you,  I  shall  put  it  into  the  hands  of 
one  authorized  to  do  justice  to  you  and  me. 

Take  away  our  good  name  from  among  men,  and 
you  strike  a  death  blow  to  all  we  hold  dear  in  this  life. 
Take  away  our  good  name  from  among  our  broth- 
ers and  sisters  in  the  Church,  and  then  this  world 
will  be  a  barren  wilderness.  But  one  thing — no 
weapon  formed  against  the  child  of  God,  can  take 
away  our  name  from  the  book  of  life. 

I  think  defamation  of  character  is  an  evil  not  to 
be  overlooked  or  passed  by  unregarded — therefore 
I  feel  justified  in  putting  myself  in  the  way  to  have 
justice.*  FANNY  WINDSOR. 

Abraham  Merrill,  one  of  those  who  swore  in  court 
at  Newport  that  he  knew  nothing  against  the  char- 
acter or  temper  of  Avery,  was  knowing  to  all  this 
transaction;  we  must  suppose  there  were  others  who 
had  like  knowledge  ;  and  with  how  much  truth  or- 
propriety  could  any  one  say  they  knew  nothing 
against  his  moral  character  or  his  temper,  that  knew 
of  such  a  diabolical  persecution  of  an  unoffending  fe- 

*"  Justice,"  indeed — if  this  injured  woman  and  the  Rev.  Thom- 
as F.  Norris  have  not  been  amply  avenged  by  a  righteous  God, 
tliev  never  can  be.  "  Siucly  there  is  a  Gcid  that  judgeth  the 
earth." 

n   * 


108  FALL  RIVER. 

male,  adefenceless  woman,  who  probably  was  guilty 
of  no  real  offence  against  him,  or  any  one:  and  if 
she  had  been,  who  is  to  set  examples  of  forbearance 
and  forgiveness  of  injuries,  if  preachers  of  the  gos- 
pel are  not?  If  ministers  were  to  commence  a  gen- 
eral dealing  with  all  in  their  communions  who  exer- 
cise unholy  tempers,  it  is  presumed  they  would  have 
their  hands  full,  though  in  this  case  there  would 
have  been  one  innocent.  There  was  testimony  suf- 
ficient that  she  endured  the  bitter  things  so  often 
repeated  to  her  without  manifesting  any  thing  but 
sorrow.  That  she  could  not  consent  to  hear  him 
preach  may  be  attributed  to  principle  rather  than 
temper. 

Tlie  character  of  Avery  for  revengeful,  angry 
feelings,  may  be  gathered  from  the  circumstances  of 
the  prosecution,  by  a  brother  clergyman.  This  was 
in  the  town  of  Saugus,  Mass.  and  the  circumstances 
are  related  thus.  The  Congregational  Society  in 
that  place  were  at  that  time  destitute  of  a  settled 
minister,  and  Avery,  who  was  then  stationed  near 
over  the  Methodist  one,  offered  to  preach  for  them 
occasionally.  The  offer  was  politely  accepted,  and 
some  little  time  after,  a  Mr.  Norris,  who  was  es- 
teemed as  a  very  amiable  and  pious  man,  and  who 
was  then  preaching  there  to  the  Reformed  Metho- 
dists, as  they  are  called,  (a  sect  of  christians  who 
have  separated  themselves  from  the  others,)  offered 
likewise.  He  too  was  accepted,  and  preached  there 
much  to  the  acceptance  of  the  congregation,  who 
were  delighted  with  the  unassuming  piety  and  evan- 
gelical sentiments  of  Mr.  Norris,  and  asked  him  to 
continue  his  labors  among  them,  whenever  opportu- 
nity offered.  The  next  Sunday  that  Avery  preach- 
ed there  he  took  for  his  text  the  passage  in  Job— 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.       109 

*^  I  also  will  declare  mine  opinion,"  and  commenc- 
^3d  an  attack  from  the  pulpit  upon  the  character  of 
his  brother,  whom  he  called  a  thief,  and  some  other 
very  bad  things  ;  and  getting  in  a  passion  as  he 
proceeded,  went  on  to  charge  him  with  individual 
sins,  which  he  undertook  to  particularize.  A  part 
of  this  discourse,  as  related,  the  writer  has  forgot- 
ten, but  one  was  that  he  had  been  employed  once  in 
a  glasshouse,  and  stole  ware  to  furnish  his  own 
sideboard.  Ilis  hearers  who  relate  the  story,  re- 
mark, that  "  all  this  time  his  face  was  violent  red, 
and  he  appeared  to  be  in  a  great  passion."  The 
whole  story  was  immediately  related  to  Mr.  Norris, 
who  proceeded  to  put  his  character  in  the  care  of 
the  law,  and  prosecuted  Avery  for  defamation  of 
character.  It  was  tried,  and  Avery  was  found  gudty, 
and  sentenced  to  pay  a  fine,  but  he  appealed,  and 
it  came  to  the  second  trial,  when  Avery  appealed  it, 
arresting  judgment,  and  taking  it  out  of  court,  by 
paying  a  sum  of  money,  the  amount  of  which  we 
did  not  learn,  but  our  informant  says  several  hun- 
dred dollars.  The  Ecclesiastical  Council,  as  they 
style  themselves,  then  took  him  under  their  protec- 
tion, and  issued  a  manifesto  declaring  him  entirely 
blameless,  and  clearing  him  of  all  censure. 

After  the  examination  at  Bristol,  some  of  the  his- 
tory of  this  transaction  got  to  Fall  River,  and  a  copy 
of  the  examination  was  forwarded  by  some  one  to 
Rev.  Mr.  Norris,  asking  for  the  copy  of  the  trial  at 
East-Cambridge.  The  amazement  and  indignation 
of  Mr.  Norris  and  his  friends,  at  finding  the  Mer- 
rills had  sworn  his  character  was  unsullied,  &c. 
&c.  together  with  the  belief  that  the  public  ought 
to  have  the  facts,  induced  them  to  publish  the  fol- 
lowing manifesto,  which  was  forwarded  to  Fall  Riv- 


110  FALL   RIVER. 

er,  without  the  copy  of  the  trial.  That  document 
he  states  was  sent  to  the  Governor  of  this  State. 
No  Governor  of  this  State  has  received  it,  and  by 
what  means  it  miscarried  is  not  known,  but  it  is 
something  that  our  public  functionaries  ought  to 
look  into.  Could  it  have  been  taken  out  of  the  mail 
between  here  and  East-Cambridge?  If  this  book 
should  fall  into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Norris,  we  hope  he 
will  himself  see  to  it.     The  manifesto  is  as  follows  ; 

TO  THE  PUBLIC. 

East  Cambridge,  Feb.  1833. 

Fellow-Citizens, — I  have  frequently  been  solicited 
for  a  copy  of  the  trial  and  verdict  in  the  action  before 
the  Supreme  Court,  at  its  session  in  Cambridge, 
last  winter,  against  E.  K.  Avery,  but  have  hitherta 
denied. — Those  solicitations  becoming  more  numer- 
ous and  pressing,  on  seeing  the  strange  testimony 
of  the  Messrs.  Merrills,  at  Avery's  examination  be- 
fore justices  Howe  and  Hale,  I  have  permitted  sonie 
of  the  friends  of  justice  to  publish  a  ie\w  statements 
on  the  case,  with  some  animadversion  on  the  evi... 
deuce  given  by  the  Merrills,  at  Avery's  examination 
as  published  by  L.  Drury. 

I  feel  no  resentment  towards  E.  K.  Avery,  and  I 
write  more  in  sorrow  than  in  anger — sheer  neces- 
sity compelled  me  to  shield  myself  from  his  asper- 
sions behind  the  strong  arm  of  the  law.  And  what 
appears  like  an  attempt  to  cover  crime  and  screen 
the  guilty,  by  men  in  holy  office,  seems  to  render  it 
proper  the  community  should  have  facts. 

The  verdict  of  the  jury  with  their  names,  signed 
by  the  clerk  of  the  judiciary,  has  been  forwarded  to 
tlie  Governor  of  Rhode-Island.  Avery  has  paid  me 
one  hundred  and  ninety  dollars  on  the  verdict,  and 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.  Ill 

paid  his  own  costs,  which  probably  amounted  to  as 
much  more,  as  he  summoned  many  witnesses.  His 
friends  offered  in  consideration  of  the  abatement 
made  him,  to  obtain  his  confession  and  retraction, 
to  one  of  whom  I  returned  the  following  written  an- 
swer;—  In  respect  to  a  confession  from  Mr.  Avery, 
it  would  be  highly  dishonorable  in  me  to  extort  one 
from  him.  The  verdict  of  the  jury  fully  shields  me 
from  all  possible  harm  from  the  slander  of  his  tongue, 
completely  nullifying  its  utmost  poison  ; — rather 
ought  he  to  humble  himself  before  that  church  of 
which  he  is  a  member  and  minister,  upon  whose 
escutcheon  he  has  brought  a  stain,  which  the  good 
conductof  a  long  life  can  never  wipe  off.  I  respect- 
fully asked  justice  of  Mr.  Avery,  and  when  taunting- 
ly refused,  I  notified  his  superior,  the  Rev.  Bishop 
Hedding,  but  obtained  no  redress,  until  I  appealed 
to  a  jury  of  my  countrymen.  Should  these  facts  be 
denied  by  responsible  authority,  the  public  shall 
have  the  trial  and  correspondence. 

The  following  piece  was  prepared  by  a  highly  re- 
spectable member  of  the  Middlesex  bar,  for  and  at 
the  instance  of  several  gentlemen  of  the  counties  of 
Suffolk,  Middlesex,  Worcester,  &,c.  and  is  publish- 
ed by  them  ; — some  expressions  of  commendation 
of  the  writer  are  thereby  accounted  for. 

Fellow-Citizens,  your  very  obedient  and  hum- 
ble servant,  THOMAS  F.  NORRIS. 

A  pamphlet  purporting  to  contain  a  report  of  the 
evidence  given  on  the  recent  examination  of  the 
Rev.  E.  K.  Avery,  for  the  murder  of  Miss  Cornell, 
is  before  the  public,  and  much  of  it  is  clearly  not 
legal  evidence,  and  has  no  more  to  do  with  the  ques- 
tion under  examination  than  the  history  of  Meg-Mer» 


112  FALL  RIVER. 

illes.  This  is  oar  opinion, — others  may  view  it  dif- 
ferently. But  not  careing  to  quarrel  about  mere 
matters  of  opinion,  or  rules  of  evidence,  upon  which 
even  lawyers  differ,  let  us  notice  a  few  facts. 

On  page  30  of  this  pamphlet  the  Rev.  J.  A.  Mer- 
rill is  made  to  swear  that  he  had  known  Avery  for 
about  11  years,  and  that  as  far  as  his  moral,  chris- 
tian, and  ministerial  character  was  concerned,  it  is 
unspotted  and  unblemished.  True  it  is  on  a  cross 
examination,  the  Rev.  gentleman  is  forced  to  confess 
(which  he  seems  to  have  done  reluctantly  enough) 
that  Avery,  while  at  Saugus,  got  into  a  difficulty 
which  resulted  in  a  prosecution  against  him,  a  ver- 
dict against  him,  an  arrest  of  judgment, — buisness 
settled,  and  an  ecclesiastical  council  after  the  civil 
trial,  acquitted  Avery,  and  gave  him  a  certificate. 
On  page  45,  Rev.  A.  D.  Merrill  is  made  to  testify 
that  he  had  heard  the  evidence  of  the  Rev.  J.  A. 
Merrill,  and  concurred  with  him  as  to  the  unspotted 
and  christian  character  of  Avery,  and  that  the  pro- 
secution against  him  at  Saugus  resulted  in  nothing 
to  impeach  his  conduct. 

Now  to  us  it  is  to  the  last  degree  surprising  that 
theife  Rev.  gentlemen  should  have  testified  in  this 
wise  about  Avery's  character  and  conduct.  The 
prosecution  against  Avery  was  a  civil  action,  in 
which  he  was  charged  with  publishing  a  most  false, 
malicious  and  wicked  slander  against  a  peaceable, 
unoffending  citizen  and  minister  of  religiori.  This 
charge  was  made  in  a  variety  of  forms.  Avery  de- 
nied the  truth  of  it,  but  notwithstanding  this  denial, 
a  jury  of  his  countrymen,  after  a  long  and  labored 
defence,  in  which  he  was  aided  by  the  most  emi- 
nent council,  and  a  host  of  clerical  and  lay  breth- 
jren,  and  the  supposed  sanctity  of  his  own  profession, 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.       llS 

declared  on  oath  that  he  was  guilty.  This  verdict 
was  rendered  upon  the  evidence  of  Avery's  own  re- 
ligious and  personal  friends;  and  we  have  higher 
and  better  authority  than  the  assertion  of  the  Rev. 
Messrs.  Merrills  for  saying  it  was  a  ''  most  righte- 
ous verdict."  It  is  true,  that  after  this  verdict  was 
pronounced  by  the  jury,  the  council  for  Mr.  A. 
made  a  motion  in  arrest  of  judgment,  on  a  point  of 
special  pleading,  but  even  this  ground  was  abandon- 
ed, and  the  matter  settled  before  the  time  arrived 
for  a  hearing  on  the  motion, — the  object  of  it  there- 
fore was  clearly  to  gain  time. 

The  slander  charged  upon  Mr.  Avery  was  proved 
to  be  wanton,  malicious^  false,  and  wholly  unpro- 
voked. No  circumstances  appeared  at  the  trial  to 
justify,  excuse,  or  even  palliate  this  dastardly  and 
wicked  attack  upon  the  character  of  one  who  was 
an  utter  stranger  to  Mr.  Avery,  and  whose  only  of- 
fence was  that  of  seceding  from  the  great  body  of 
Episcopal  Methodists  and  organizing  an  Indepen- 
dent Methodist  church  and  society  in  Mr.  Avery's 
neighborhood.  The  object  of  Mr.  Avery  seems 
clearly  to  have  been  to  prostrate  and  ruin  his  oppo- 
nent, and  thereby  to  destroy  the  christian  society  he 
had  laboured  to  unite  and  build  up.  The  Rev. 
Messrs.  Merrills  were  present  at  this  trial,  heard 
the  evidence,  and  hiciv  the  result ;  and  yet  have  ta- 
ken upon  themselves  to  swear  that  this  prosecution 
*'  resulted  in  nothing  to  impeach  his  conduct."  Has 
it  then  come  to  this,  that  it  is  no  stain  upon  a  chris- 
tian minister's  moral  character  to  be  convicted  of 
uttering  falsehood  and  groundless  calumny,  and  of 
propagating  malicious  slander  against  his  brother? 
Is  it  not  robbery  to  take  from  an  innocent  man  the 
dearest  and  best  of  his  earthly  possessions  ?     Is  he. 


114  FALL  RIVER. 

whose  business  it  is  to  enforce  the  precepts  of  thff 
peaceable  religion  of  the  Holy  Jesus,  and  to  preach 
charity  and  all  long-suffering,  to  gratify  his  own 
malignant   passions,   in  traducing    a   brother   and 
neighbour  ?     Let  these   Reverend  gentlemen  look 
into  that  holy  religion  which  they  profess  to  teach, 
and  see  what  St.  Paul  says  of  the  slanderer,   and 
what  St.  Peter  says  of  the  "  man  that  bridleth   not 
his  tongue."     Can  that  man's  moral,  christian  and 
ministerial  character  be  tnihj  said  to  be  unspotted 
and  unblemished,  when  the  records  of  our  highest 
Judicial  Tribunal  show  that  he  has  been  accused 
and  convicted  of  an   offence  against  the  peace  and. 
laws  of  the  land;  against  the  rights  of  individuals,, 
(an  offence  originating  in  malice,)  and  designed  to^ 
blight  the  fair  fame  of  an  unoffending  man  ?  Let 
these  Rev.  gentlemen  settle  this  question  for  them- 
selves.    Their  consciences  are  in  their  own  keep- 
ing.    The  slanderer,  in  the  estimation  of  all  good 
men,  is  no  better  than  a  robber  or  an  assassin,  and 
it  will  require  something  more  than  the  ipsedixit  of 
tv.'o  *'  holy   men  in  holy  office"  to  overrule  public 
opinion,  the  verdict  of  a  jury  or  the  laws  of  the  land. 
And  before  the  bar  of  public  opinion,  we  leave  the 
Rev.  gentlemen,  and  Mr.  Avery  also,  to  receive  such 
jndgment  as  their  respective  cases  may  deserve. 

Thus  far  the  manifesto.     We  will  now  go  back 
to  the  history  of  Sarah  Maria  Cornell. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

There  is  a  wonderful  mystery  in  the  fact,  if  it  be' 
so,  that  this  unfortunate  girl  should  be  constantly 
betraying  herself  to  the  Methodists,  by  confessions 
of  guilt  and  self-accusations  of  sins  of  a  most  out- 
rageous kind,  while  at  the  same  time  she  was  en- 
deavoring to  keep  in  the  society,  and  be  in  fellow- 
ship with  the  members,  and  respected  by  them,  stri- 
ving as  tho'igh  her  very  salvation  depended  upon  it. 
The  trial  has  been  published,  and  the  evidence  is 
before  the  public.  Those  who  wished  to  make  her 
appear  a  monster  of  wickedness,  have  continually 
said  all  that  is  possible  to  say  against  any  individ- 
ual, and  said  it  as  a  certain  preacher  once  said 
(when  he  was  planning  to  abuse  his  neighbour  from 
the  pulpit) — from  a  place  ''  where  she  cannot  ansioer 
them  hack  again.^'  It  is  however  no  more  than  fair 
that  her  letters  should  speak  for  her,  and  the  author 
has  been  at  the  trouble  to  collect  all  of  her  corres- 
pondence that  can  be  found,  consisting  of  sixteen 
letters  written  to  her  mother  and  sister,  all,  except 
one,  between  the  year  1819  and  1832.  It  will  be 
seen  by  these  that  there  is  a  period  of  more  than  a 
year  when  only  one  letter  was  written.  This  was 
the  period  immediately  succeeding  her  troubles  at 
Lowell,  and  may  be  accounted  for  by  the  agitation 
of  mind  which  such  a  punishment  or  persecution^ 
(call  it  which  we  please,)  must  have  occasioned.  It 
appears  however  that  she  was  not  entirely  unmind- 
ful of  her  friends  during  this  period,  as  by  her  last 
letter,  dated  March  10th,  1832,  she  speaks  of  a 
pamphlet  sent  to  Mr.  Rawson.  And  by  a  letter  from 

H 


116  FALL  RIVER. 

him  to  her  it  appears  the  family  received  one  on  the 
11th  of  Jan.  1831.  Other  letters,  written  at  differ- 
ent times  may  have  been  lost  or  mislaid,  but  not  by 
design.  Her  sister's  family  informed  me  that  they 
were  all  of  a  like  character,  and,  resembling  her 
conversation,  full  of  Methodism,  and  relating  mostly 
to  her  religious  feelings.  The  papers  were  all  given 
up  without  reserve.  Both  hers  and  theirs  were  found 
among  the  few  things  at  their  house.  The  letters 
of  her  brother-in-law,  Mr.  Rawson,  to  her,  are  in 
themselves  a  complete  refutation  of  any  scandal 
propagated  against  him.  They  prove  him  to  be 
what  every  one  acquainted  with  him  esteems  him  to 
be,  a  humble,  plain  dealing,  and  practical  christian. 
They  gave  her  excellent  advice  about  her  disposi- 
tion to  rove  from  place  to  place,  and  cautioned  her 
of  the  danger,  and  expressed  great  satisfaction  at 
her  continued  assurance  of  loving  God  and  religion, 
and  endeavoured  faithfully  to  point  out  to  her  the 
necessity  of  giving  herself  up  wholly  in  a  life  of  good 
works,  and  not  to  rest  in  a  mere  profession.  There 
is  also  among  her  papers  letters  from  some  of  her 
Methodist  sisters,  expressing  fellowship  and  christ- 
ian affection. 

One  of  these  letters,  written  in  1S27,  from,  as  it 
appears,  a  pious  and  quife  intelligent  young  lady, 
styling  her  worthy  sister,  &c.  struck  me  very  forci- 
bly as  being  the  year  after  what  they  term  her  "dis- 
graceful expulsion  from  the  meeting  at  Smithfield." 
It  appears  they  had  lived  together,  and  been  for 
some  time  in  habits  of  intimacy,  and  expresses  great 
desire  to  have  Sarah  Maria  follow  her  to  the  place 
where  she  then  was.  One  from  another  sister,  da- 
ted 1829,  also  addresses  her  as  a  *'  worthy  sister," 
and  feelingly  asks  an  interest  in  her  prayers,  and 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NAI^RATIVE.  117 

dwells  upon  the  seasons  of  religious  enjoyment  they 
have  had  together.  One  was  directed  to  her  at  Dor- 
cjiester  and  another  Lowell.  Her  letters  here  follow, 
copied  verbatim.  The  originals  are  now  in  the 
hands  of  the  author  of  this  book,  and  can  be  seen  by 
any  one  who  has  tiie  curiosity  to  see  them  in  her 
own  hand  writing.  The  first  is  dated  at  Norwich. 
(One  letter,  No.  1,  is  omitted  simply  because  it  is  a 
child's  letter,  written  at  12  year's  old.) 

Letter  No.  2.  Norwich,  May  6th,  1819. 

My  dear  sister — Having  an  opportunity  to  send 
directly  to  you  I  thought  I  could  not  let  it  pass  with- 
out improving  it.  My  sister,  the  time  is  coming 
when  we  shall  prize  time  better  than  we  do  now, 
when  we  shall  improve  every  moment  of  the  short 
space  allotted  us.  I  have  this  afternoon  received 
the  parting  hand  of  our  dear  cousin  Harriet,  aunt 
Lathrop's  eldest  daughter,  she  lately  married  Mr. 
AVinslow  a  missionary — and  is  to  em.bark  for  Cey- 
lon, never  expecting  to  see  her  beloved  parents  in 
this  world  ;  but  she  is  an  example  of  christian  pie- 
ty, she  has  left  her  native  home  to  go  to  instruct  the 
ignorant  Heathen  who  sit  in  darkness  worshiping 
wood  and  stone.*  and  know  not  the  God  that  made 
them.  Let  us  inquire  my  dear  sister  who  made  us 
to  differ  ?  We  have  the  Bible  and  are  taught  to  read 
it.  Let  it  beoifr  daily  prayer  that  God  would  send 
more  missionaries  to  the  heathen,  to  spread  the  gos- 
pel to  those  who  know  it  not. 

I  am  learning  the  Tailors  trade,  I  have  been  here 
seven  months,  and  expect  to  stay  17  more.  I  hope 
when  my  time  is  out  I  shall  come  and  see  you,  I  ex- 

*  The  late  Mrs.  Winslow,  wife  of  the  Missionary  of  that  name, 
•vho  died  lately  at  Ceylon,  wns  first  cousin  to  S.  M.'Cornell. 


118  FALL  RIVER. 

pected  to  have  come  last  fall — but  was  disappointed. 
Mother  is  well  and  sends  her  love  to  you,  likewise 
Oranraa — Uncles,  aunts,  and  cousins.  But  where 
is  our  beloved  brother,  I  have  not  seen  or  heard  from 
him  these  twelve  months.  May  God  Almighty  help 
guide  and  direct  him  and  us,  and  bring  us  safe  to 
heaven.  Give  my  best  love  to  all  my  friends,  and 
you  must  write  me  as  soon  as  you  receive  this-^ 
either  by  public  or  private  conveyance.  We  have 
been  so  long  separated  that  we  should  not  know 
each  other  by  sight,  but  surely  we  might  have  the 
pleasure  of  corresponding.  You  must  excuse  this 
jscrawling  and  I  hope  the  next  will  be  better.  Adieu 
my  dear  sister. 

I  remain  your  ever  affectionate  and  loving  sister, 
SALLY  MARIA  CORNELL. 

No.  3.  Norwich,  August  26th,  1820. 

My  dear  sister — I  received  your  letter  about 
ihree  weeks  since  but  have  not  had  time  to  answer 
it  till  now,  being  very  much  hurried  in  the  shop. 
Mother  has  had  two  letters  from  our  brother  since  I 
wrote  you  last.  He  was  then  in  Natches,  but  has 
gone  to  Fort  Gibson,  and  says  he  has  very  good 
business,  and  shall  be  at  home  next  summer  if  pos- 
sible. 

Your  sister  M.  with  all  your  friends  rejoice  at  the 
change  the  Lord  has  wrought  in  your  heart.  O  that 
he  would  condescend  to  visit  your  poor  sisters  heart 
also.  There  has  been  quite  a  revival  here,  about 
twenty  I  believe  is  going  to  join  the  Church  next 
"Sabbath.  Our  cousin  Leffingwell  aunt  Lathrop's 
youngest  son  is  very  serious,  a  year  since  they  could 
hardly  persuade  him  to  go  to  meeting  on  the  Sab- 
l)ath,  but  now  he  is  one  of  the  Sabbath  school  teach- 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.  119 

€rs  a  young  lady  who  has  had  a  consumption  for 
about  a  year,  dropt  away  suddenly  yesterday.  When 
we  sec  one  and  another  of  our  friends  dropping  into 
eternity  it  ought  to  remind  us,  that  this  is  not  our 
home  or  abiding  place.  It  naturally  leads  us  to  en- 
quire was  they  prepared  to  meet  death  and  the  judg- 
ment? The  young  lady  I  mentioned  that  died  yes- 
terday was  resigned  and  took  leave  of  all  her  friends, 
and  said  she  hoped  to  meet  them  all  in  a  better 
world,  she  said  she  could  bid  defiance  to  death,  and 
meet  Jesus  with  a  smile.  O  that  my  feelings  were 
like  hers,  but  alas  ray  heart  is  hard,  and  I  am  as 
prone  to  sin  as  the  sparks  that  fly  upward.  Oh  my 
isister  pray  for  me,  that  God  in  his  infinite  mercy 
pour  the  sweet  refreshings  of  his  grace  on  my  soul. 

I  have  almost  finished  my  trade,  my  time  will  be 
out  in  October,  and  mother  is  making  preparations 
for  our  coming  to  Providence  this  fall.  Oh  shall 
I  behold  the  face  of  my  beloved  sister  which  I  have 
never  seen — or  have  no  recollection  of 

Although  we  are  strangers  we  ought  not  to  be 
deprived  of  the  privilege  of  writing  to  each  other. 
Only  think  we  are  only  forty-five  miles  apart  and 
we  dont  hear  from  each  other  more  than  once  or 
twice  a  year — and  our  cousin  Harriet  is  three  or 
four  thousand  miles  from  her  parejits  and  they  have 
heard  from  her  four  or  five  times,  she  is  well  and  has 
never  regretted  devoting  her  life  to  a  missionary 
cause,  she  says  if  she  is  a  means  of  helping  bring  the 
heathen  out  of  idolatry  she  shall  be  doubly  re- 
warded. 

Mother  Grandma  Aunts  and  cousins  send  their 

love  to  you,  and  would  be  very  happy  to  receive  a 

visit  from  you.     Give  my  love  to  all  ray  friends  in 

Providence.     Oh  that  you  and  they  mav  be  useful  in 

H* 


120  FALL  RIVER. 

this  world,  and  happy  in  the  world  to  come  is  the 
prayer  of  your  affectionate  sister. 

SALLY  MARIA  CORNELL. 

No.  4.  BozRAviLLE,  May  3d,  182L 

My  dear  sister — I  with  pleasure  resume  my  pen 
to  inform  you  of  my  pleasant  and  happy  situation. 
I  have  been  at  Deacon  Abels  all  winter  and  have 
just  been  able  to  pay  my  board,  I  am  now  situa- 
ted in  a  pleasant  village  near  the  factory,  and 
between  the  town  of  Bozrah  and  Goshen,  four  miles 
from  mother,  and  three  from  the  meeting-house,  we 
have  meetings  in  the  factory  every  Sabbath,  and 
when  it  is  unpleasant  I  attend.  I  am  the  only  Tai- 
loress  for  two  miles  each  way,  you  may  of  course 
conclude  I  shall  be  somewhat  hurried  with  work.  I 
wish  you  were  here.  I  desire  to  be  thankful  to  God 
for  placing  me  in  so  pleasant  a  situation. 

The  solemn  bell  has  just  summoned  another  fel- 
low-mortal into  eternity  but  what  is  to  be  his  fate  in 
another  world  God  only  knows.  It  is  just  four  weeks 
since  death  entered  Deacon  Abefs  family  and  de- 
prived them  of  a  servant — a  tall  stout  robust  negro 
whom  they  had  brought  up  from  the  age  of  two 
years,  twenty  years  he  lived  with  them,  and  never 
associated  with  apy  but  respectable  people,  as  there 
was  but  one  other  negro  in  the  place.  Deacon 
Abel's  family  took  his  death  very  hard,  he  was  in 
the  vigor  of  health,  often  boasting  of  his  strength — 
but  when  he  came  to  be  laid  on  a  bed  of  sickness 
and  the  cold  hand  of  death  was  upon  him  all  his 
fstrengh  could  not  save  him.  he  had  just  finished  his 
years  work,  and  engaged  for  another  year,  and  want- 
ed one  week  for  relaxation,  and  two  weeks  from  the 
day  that  his  year  was  up  he  was  carried  to  his  grave. 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.        121 

the  family  did  not  consider  him  dangerous  until  just 
before  he  died,  but  he  was  imprest  with  the  idea 
he  should  not  recover  and  regretted  that  his  life  had 
not  been  better,  and  thought  if  it  should  please  a 
just  God  to  spare  him  he  should  live  a  different  one. 
it  is  not  for  us  to  say  whether  he  is  happy  or  misera- 
ble in  another  world,  but  his  death  has  very  solemnly 
impressed  my  mind.  Sometimes  I  think  why  am  I 
spared  perhaps  it  is  to  commit  more  sin,  perhaps 
for  some  usefulness,  sometimes  I  think  I  am  no 
worse  than  others  what  have  I  to  fear  but  God 
says  be  ye  also  ready  for  ye  know  not  what  hour 
your  Lord  will  come.  How  will  ye  escape  if  ye 
neglect  so  great  salvation.  Yesterday  I  heard  a 
discourse  from  these  words  "  Why  halt  ye  between 
two  opinions,  choose  you  this  day  whom  you  will 
serve,  if  the  Lord  be  God  serve  him,  if  Baal  then 
serve  him."  I  have  thought  seriously  about  this 
text. 

You  will  perceive  by  the  date  of  this  letter  that  it 
is  my  birth  day.  Nineteen  years  has  rolled  round 
my  head  and  what  have  I  done  for  God?  If  I  were 
summoned  before  his  judgment  bar  could  I  answer 
with  a  clear  conscience  to  having  performed  my  du- 
ty ?  I  fear  I  could  not. 

I  have  resolved  this  year,  to  leave  the  world  and 
all  its  glittering  toys,  and  devote  the  rest  of  my  life 
to  the  service  of  God.  I  have  searched  this  world 
for  happiness,  but  alas  I  have  searched  in  vain  ;  it 
is  all  a  mere  show — a  broken  cistern  that  can  hold 
no  water. 

In  your  last  letter  I  recollect  you  harbored  the 
idea  that  I  was  offended  with  you.  Far  be  it  from 
me  to  be  offended  with  my  sister — you  took  my  let- 
ter very  differently  from  what  I  intended  it.    I  re- 


132  FALL  RivtK. 

ceived  a  letter  a  few  days  ago  from  James ;  he  has 
changed  his  situation  and  will  not  come  to  Connect- 
icut this  year,  therefore  I  shall  give  up  the  idea  of 
visiting  you  this  summer — a  year  from  this  time  if 
God  permits,  I  shall  anticipate  the  pleasure  of  visit- 
ing you,  but  it  is  very  uncertain.  I  had  forgotten 
to  mention  I  am  boarding  with  one  of  the  best  of 
families,  a  pious  v.'oman  and  steady  man.  Please 
direct  your  letters  to  Bozrahville,  to  the  care  of  Da- 
vid L.  Dodge;  there  is  a  post  office  here  and  it  will 
be  more  convenient  for  me  to  get  the  letters  ;  write 
immediately  on  the  receipt  of  this.  I  am  so  far 
from  mother  that  it  v;ill  not  be  convenient  for  her 
to  \vrite  any  more.  Give  my  love  to  uncles,  aunts, 
cousins,  and  all  who  inquire  after  your  affectionate 
sister  MARIA. 

P.  S.  Don't  exhibit  this  scribbling  to  any  one. 

S.  M.  C. 

No.  5.  KiLLiNGLY,  May  20th,  1822. 

Dear  Sister — I  received  a  letter  from  you  soon 
after  I  came  to  this  place,  in  which  you  murmured 
at  my  coming  to  the  factory  to  work ;  but  I  do  not 
consider  myself  bound  to  go  into  all  sorts  of  compa- 
ny because  I  live  near  them.  I  never  kept  any  but 
good  company  yet,  and  if  I  get  into  bad  it  is  owing 
to  ignorance. 

I  have  been  away  from  home  now  about  one  year, 
and  have  found  as  many  friends  as  among  my  own 
family  connexions.  I  have  learned  in  whatsoever 
situation  I  am  in  to  be  content,  though  I  have  not 
been  so  contented  here,  being  far  from  any  friend 
or  connexion. 

Yoii  wrote  me  you  thought  I  had  better  return  to 
Norwich  as  soon  as  possible,  and  that  you  should 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.       123 

not  come  to  Killingly  as  long  as  I  staid  at  this  fac- 
tory. You  must  remember  that  your  pride  must 
have  a  fall.  I  am  not  too  proud  to  get  a  living  in 
any  situation  in  which  it  pleases  God  to  place  me. 
Remember  that  you  have  expressed  a  humble  hope 
in  God,  and  bear  the  christian  name  ;  learn  then  to 
imitate  the  example  of  Him  whose  name  you  bear, 
and  never  let  it  be  said  of  you  that  you  were  too 
proud  to  follow  your  Saviour's  steps — who  was  meek 
and  lowly  and  went  about  doing  good — suffering  the 
scoffs  and  indignation  of  wicked  men,  and  finally 
spilled  his  precious  blood  that  you  might  be  saved. 

I  do  not  expect  to  find  the  society  here  that  I  did 
in  Bozrahville.  .1  have  got  some  acquainted  with 
Mr.  A — 's  family  and  like  them  very  well.  I  miss 
Mr.  Dodge  and  his  family,  and  some  other  friends 
I  left  there  ;  shall  never  enjoy  myself  so  well  in  any 
other  place  as  I  did  there.  No  my  dear  sister,  there 
is  no  revival  of  religion  here,  and  I  have  no  class  in 
the  Sunday  school  here,  and  it  cannot  be  expected 
I  can  enjoy  myself  so  well. 

If  you  do  not  come  to  Killingly  until  I  go  to  Nor- 
wich you  may  not  come  this  year,  and  I  assure  you 
I  will  never  come  to  Providence  first. 

I  had  a  letter  from  our  dear  brother  a  few  weeks 
since ;  he  is  in  New-Orleans,  and  he  writes  that  he 
don't  know  when  he  shall  return  to  Connecticut.  I 
should  be  pleased  could  we  all  meet  once  more,  but  I 
don't  expect  we  ever  shall.  My  dear  sister,  may  God 
be  your  guide — and  may  his  holy  spirit  refresh  and 
comfort  you,  and  that  we  may  both  meet  in  heaven 
is  the  prayer  of  your  affectionate  sister, 

SALLY  MARIA  CORNELL. 


124  PALL  RIVER. 

No.  6.         Slaters viLLE,  (Smithfield,)  1824. 

My  dear  brother  and  sister — Almost  two  years 
has  elapsed  since  I  have  written  a  letter  or  hardly  a 
line  to  any  one,  and  I  scarce  know  what  to  say  to  my 
dear  parent — but  through  the  goodness  of  Divine 
Providence  I  am  alive  and  in  a  comfortable  state  of 
health.  I  enjoy  all  the  necessaries  of  life  and  many 
of  its  enjoyments.  I  can  truly  say  my  dear  mother, 
that  the  year  past  has  been  the  happiest  of  my  life. 
I  have  lived  in  this  village  almost  nineteen  months, 
and  have  boarded  in  a  very  respectable  family.  My 
employment  has  been  weaving  on  water  looms ;  my 
wages  have  not  been  very  great,  yet  they  have  been 
enough  to  procure  a  comfortable  living,  with  econo- 
my and  prudence.  I  feel  as  though  I  had  done  with 
the  trifling  vanities  of  this  world — I  find  there  is  no 
enjoyment  in  them  and  they  have  almost  been  my 
ruin. 

While  I  am  writing  perhaps  you  have  Jong  since 
forgotten  you  have  a  daughter  Maria — but  stop  deaf 
mother,  I  am  still  your  daughter  and  Lucretia'sonly 
sister.  God  in  mercy  has  shown  me  the  depravity 
of  my  owft  wicked  heart — and  has  I  humbly  trust, 
called  me  back  from  whence  I  had  wandered.  Al- 
though I  had  professed  religion,  and  have  turned 
back  to  the  beggarly  elements  of  the  world,  and 
brought  reproach  upon  the  cause  of  God — and  have 
caused  Jesus  to  open  his  wounds  afresh,  and  have 
put  him  to  an  open  shame — and  have  followed  him 
like  Peter  afar  off — and  even  denied  that  I  ever 
knew  him.  When  I  look  back  upon  my  past  life  it 
looks  dreary,  and  I  feel  like  a  mourner  alone  on  the 
wide  world  without  one  friend  to  cheer  me  through 
this  gloomy  vale — but  when  I  look  forward  it  bears 
another  aspect.     I  have  been  made  to  rejoice  in  the 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.        125 

hopo  of  the  glory  of  God.  I  feel  that  I  have  an  ev- 
idence within  my  own  soul  that  God  has  forgiven 
me,  and  I  have  an  unshaken  trust  in  God  that  I 
would  not  part  with  for  ten  thousand  worlds.  I  find 
there  is  nothing  in  this  vain  world  capable  of  satis- 
fying the  desires  of  the  immortal  mind.  But  the  re- 
ligion of  Jesus  is  a  fountain  from  whence  joys  of  the 
most  exalted  kind  will  for  ever  flow.  I  have  enjoyed 
.some  precious  seasons  since  I  have  been  in  this 
place.  Though  destitute  of  any  natural  friends,  yet 
God  has  raised  up  many  christian  friends  of  dif- 
ferent orders — all  united  heart  and  hand,  bound  to 
one  home. 

We  have  a  house  for  worship  and  have  preaching 
every  Sabbath. 

Sister  Lucretia,  by  the  best  information  I  can  ob- 
tain, since  I  saw  you  last  you  have  become  a  wife 
and  a  mother.  I  want  to  see  the  dear  little  babe  ; 
I  hope  the  cares  of  a  married  life  has  not  separated 
your  heart  from  God.  I  believe  there  is  something 
in  religion  that  is  durable  ;  it  is  worth  seeking  and 
worth  enjoying  I  feel  as  though  I  could  enjoy  my- 
self in  this  life  while  blest  with  the  presence  of  Je- 
sus, I  have  found  that  a  form  of  godliness  will  nev- 
er make  me  happy  but  I  can  praise  God  for  the  en- 
joyment, of  every  day's  Religion — it  is  that  which 
will  do  to  live  by — and  will  prepare  us  for  a  dying 
hour. 

May  God  bless  you  and  your  companion,  and  if 
I  never  meet  you  in  this  world,  may  we  be  prepared 
to  spend  a  never  ending  eternity  together  in  the 
bright  mansions  of  glory.  I  want  to  see  Mother 
and  if  any  of  you  desire  to  see  me — write  and  let 
me  know  and  I  will  try  to  come  and  spend  a  few 
days  with  you  before  long — but  whether  I  ever  see 


126  FALL  RIVER. 

you  again  or  not,  I  want  you  should  forgive  me* 
and  bury  what  is  past  in  oblivion  and  I  hope  my  fu- 
ture good  conduct  may  reward  you.  I  heard  that 
brother  James  past  through  Providence,  if  he  is  with 
you  give  my  love  to  him.  I  should  like  to  se  him  but 
never  expect  to.     Farewell  in  haste  yours 

MARIA  S.  CORNELL.t 

The  kind  of  self-accusation  contained  in  the  se- 
cond paragraph  of  this  letter  is  very  common  among- 
enthusiastic  people  when  making  their  confessions 
of  sin.  I  have  heard  men  of  integrity — and  young 
innocent  girls,  get  up  in  meeting  and  roundly  ac- 
cuse themselves  of  crimes — the  least  of  which,  if 
any  other  had  accused  them  of,  would  have  been  a 
mortal  offence.  Some  very  sensible  and  intelligent 
persons  have  done  this  in  reference  to  the  spiritual- 
ity of  the  law  of  God  which  makes,  they  say,  "  an 
angry  word  murder,  and  a  wanton  look  adultery.'*' 
(Vide  Matthew  v.  28.)  We  ought  however  to  depre- 
cate the  custom,  as  it  is  most  generally  made  a  very 
bad  use  of. 

No  7.  Slatersville,  Sept.  6th,  1825, 

Friday  evening  half  past  seven  o'clock. 
My  dear  sister  just  before  the  bell  rung,  1  heard 
of  an  opportunity  to  send  to  Killingly  tomorrow  by 
Frederic  Dean,  who  is  going  to  carry  his  sister 
home.  I  was  truly  pleased  with  my  visit  at  your 
house,  to  see  you  thus  happily  situated,  with  your 
family  around  you.     I  hope  dear  sister  you   will 

*  Alluding  to  the  affair  at  Mr.  Richmond's  and  Mr.  Hodges'. 

t  When  baptized  by  the  Methodists,  she  took  the  name  of  Ma- 
ria, but  having  been  accused  of  changihg  her  name,  afterwards 
resumed  the  old  manner  of  signing  it. 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE. 


m 


iiever  liave  cause  to  grieve  again  on  my  acccmnt 
if  I  know  my  own  heart,  I  desire  to  live  so  that 
noiie  may  reproach  me,  or  say  "  what  doest  thoil 
more  than  others  ?  "  I  have  enjoyed  some  precious 
seasons,  since  I  returned  from  camp  meeting.  Some- 
times when  I  think  of  leaving  Slatersville,  it  strikes 
a  dread  upon  me.  Can  I  ever  leave  this  delight- 
ful spot,  where  I  have  enjoyed  so  many  delight- 
ful seasons  and  privileges,  it  seems  to  be  a  place 
highly  favoured  by  God.  Elder  Tailor  preaches 
here  half  the  time,  he  is  a  powerful  preacher,  re- 
formation follows  him,  wherever  he  goes  he  draws 
about  as  many  hearers  as  ever  John  N.  Maffitt 
did,  some  came  eighteen  miles  last  Sabbath  to 
hear  him.  I  wish  you  would  send  me  word  wheth- 
er James  has  gone  or  not.  Give  my  love  to  raoth- 
ther,  tell  her  there  is  no  small  darning  needles 
in  the  store.  William  and  Eliza  Nanscaven  is 
coming  up  Christmas,  I  shall  send  mothers  gloves 
by  them.  Remember  me  to  Mr.  Rawson,  I  cant 
never  be  thankful  enough  to  him  for  all  his  kind- 
ness to  me.  It  is  growing  late  and  I  must  bid 
you  farewell  in  haste,  your  affectionate  sister. 
SALLY  MARIA  CORNELL. 

No.  8.  Slatep.sville,  Dec.  ISth,  18*25. 

To  Mrs.  Lucrctla  Cornell. 

My  dear  Mother — Once  more  I  take  my  pen  in 
hand  to  answer  a  letter  which  I  received  from  you 
not  long  since,  in  which  you  informed  me  my  broth- 
er was  gone.  William  and  Eliza  Nanscaven  is  go- 
ing to  Killingly  next  Saturday.  I  have  been  making^ 
calculations  all  the  fall  of  coming  up  with  them,  but 
I  am  disappointed  I  have  lost  so  much  time,  I  have 
been  oat  sick  a  week — and  last  Saturday  I  went  to 
I 


128  PALL   RIVER. 

Douglass  to  quarterly  meeting — and  Mr.  Osterhold 
is  not  very  willing  I  should  stay  out  of  the  factory 
so  soon  again. 

Dear  Mother  we  have  good  times  in  Slatersville 
Meeting  almost  every  evening.  There  are  still  ma- 
ny inquiring  the  way  toZion,  I  have  seen  this  sum- 
mer and  fall  past  nearly  30  persons  ov^n  Jesus  by 
following  him  down  into  the  water  in  the  ordinance 
of  baptism,  I  have  seen  the  aged,  the  middle  aged, 
and  the  blooming  youth,  the  drunkard  the  profane 
and  the  profligate  all  bow  to  the  sceptre  of  King  Je- 
sus and  say  though  I  have  been  a  great  sinner  I 
have  found  a  great  Saviour. 

I  have  reason  to  praise  God  that  ever  I  was  re- 
deemed by  the  blood  of  Christ,  and  that  I  was  made 
an  heir  as  I  humbly  trust  of  the  grace  of  God.  Join 
with  me  my  dear  parent  in  supplication  at  the  throne 
of  grace  that  I  may  be  kept  in  the  way — that  I  may 
never  return  to  the  beggarly  elements  of  this  vain 
world — but  that  I  may  adorn  the  profession  I  have 
made  by  a  well  ordered  life  and  conversation.  I  ex- 
pect the  Lord  willing  to  spend  my  days  in  Slaters- 
ville* I  dont  want  great  riches  nor  honours — but  a 
humble  plain  decent  and  comfortable  living  will  suit 
me  best. 

You  mentioned  you  had  some  yarn  you  would  let 
me  have  I  should  have  been  very  glad  of  it,  if  I  couW 
have  got  it — but  they  bought  some  at  the  store,  and 
I  have  got  as  much  as  I  need  at  present.  I  wish 
you  would  send  me  word  by  William  if  you  have 
heard  from  James,  and  where  he  is,  that  I  mfty 
know  where  to  write  to.     I  received  a  letter  since 

*  She  left  the  factory  in  Slatersville  in  consequence  of  its  burn- 
ing down,  and  went  to  the  Branch  Factory.  Not  beinfTconteAtcd 
there,  she  removed  after  some  little  time  to  Meiidoa  Mills. 


AN  AUTHENTIC  rfARRATIVE.  129 

I  saw  you  from  our  good  friend  David  Austin.  Re- 
member me  to  brother  and  sister  Rawson.  I  think 
my  friends  never  seemed  so  near  to  me  as  they  do 
at  present.  I  want  to  see  little  Edward  very  much. 
I  expect  if  it  is  good  sleighing  in  February  to  come 
and  spend  one  night  witli  you  if  nothing  prevents. 
I  have  no  more  to  write  but  remain  vour  affectionate 
child.  SALLY  M.^CORNELL. 

P.  S.  Excuse  the  blots  I  am  in  a  great  hurry. 

No.  9.  Mendon  Mills,  1  mile  from  ) 

Slatersville,  August  6th,  1826.  J 

My  dear  Mother — I  left  the  Branch  Factory,  and 
came  to  this  place  about  three  weeks  since,  and  am 
weaving  blue  Sattinet.  The  water  was  so  low  and 
filling  so  scarce,  the  weavers  could  not  do  much 
during  the  warm  weather.  The  factory  that  is  re- 
building at  Slatersville  is  going  up  slowly.  I  anti- 
cipate much  in  returning  to  that  delightful  village 
and  seeing  it  assume  once  more  that  lustre  that 
shone  so  brilliantly. 

I  received  a  letter  from  you  some  weeks  since,  in 
which  you  thought  you  sliould  not  probably  be  at 
home  until  September.  I  think  some  of  going  to 
Camp  Meeting  at  Woodstock  where  I  went  last  year, 
and  if  I  thought  you  and  Lucretia  v/ould  be  at  home 
I  should  come  that  way  and  spend  one  night  with 
you.  Camp  Meeting  is  appointed  the  *29th  of  this 
month  and  holds  four  days,  some  of  my  Methodist 
friends  from  the  village  will  probably  go  with  me. 
I  am  boarding  at  a  very  still  boarding  house  of  about 
twenty  boarders.  I  enjoy  myself  very  well  most  of 
the  time.  I  meet  my  brethren  and  friends  at  the 
village  about  once  a  week. 

I  think  much  of  rav  dear  brother  and  sister  Raw- 


y^O  FALL  RIVER. 

Bon  in  the  afflicting  dispensation  with  which  God 
has  been  pleased  to  visit  them.  May  they  bear  it 
ivith  christian  fortitude,  and  that  it  may  be  sancti- 
fied to  their  eternal  good  is  the  prayer  of  their  sis- 
ter. Give  ray  best  love  to  them  and  I  should  be 
much  gratified  to  receive  a  letter  from  them. 

My  own  dear  brother — where  is  he  ?  I  have  sat 
down  several  times  with  the  intention  of  writing  to 
him,  but  my  heart  has  failed  me  I  know  not  what 
to  say.  If  you  are  still  at  uncle  M's  remember  me 
to  them  and  tell  them  I  am  still  enjoying  that  hap- 
piness which  is  the  privilege  of  God's  dear  children 
to  enjoy — feeling  a  desire  to  spend  the  remainder  of 
my  days  in  the  service  of  Him  who  has  done  so 
much  for  me.  Tell  cousin  Polly  and  my  other  friends 
in  Providence,  that  I  hope  they  will  forget  and  for- 
give what  is  past,  and  I  should  feel  very  happy  to 
receive  a  letter  from  them.  I  wish  you  would  let 
nie  know  when  you  expect  to  return  to  Killingly. 
In  haste  your  affectionate  daughter. 

MAFJA  CORNELL. 

William  and  Eliza  Nanscaven  are  going  to  Camp 
Meeting. 

[During  the  period  between  this  letter  and  the 
preceding  one,  S.  M.  C.  made  a  visit  to  her  friends 
in  Providence,  meeting  by  appointment  with  her 
mother  in  that  place.  Whether  the  factory  in  Sla- 
tersville  to  which  she  proposed  to  return,  had  gone 
into  operation  at  this  period,  we  do  not  know,  but 
when  she  left  Millville  or  Mendon  mills  it  had  not, 
and  a  young  lady  of  that  village  had  agreed  to  go 
with  her  to  work  at  Dedhara.  The  difference  be- 
tween weaving  cotton  and  v/oollen  cloth  is  very 
great,  and  kw  persons  accustomed  to  work  on  the 


AJf  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.  131 

former  like  the  latter.  No  other  reason  is  known 
for  the  removal.  The  following  letter  was  written 
to  her  mother  and  friends  about  six  months  after 
parting  with  her,  at  Providence.] 

No.  10.  Dorchester,  Mass.  Sept.  25th,  1827. 

My  dear  Mother  Brother  and  Sister — After  wait- 
ing nearly  six  months  for  a  letter  in  vain,  I  take  up 
my  pen  to  address  those  of  my  dear  friends  who  are 
near  and  dear  to  me  by  the  ties  of  nature.  After 
leaving  you  at  Providence  I  came  in  the  stage  to 
Dedham  where  I  found  the  young  lady  as  I  expect- 
ed from  Slatersville.  I  went  to  weaving  the  next 
day  at  Dedham,  where  I  staid  about  four  weeks.  I 
immediately  wrote,  as  I  supposed  before  you  left 
Providence,  but  as  I  have  received  no  answer  I  have 
reason  to  suppose  you  have  never  received  it.  There 
was  no  meeting  at  Dedham  that  I  wished  to  attend, 
and  I  had  to  board  where  there  was  sixty  boarders, 
and  iifter  four  weeks  I  removed  to  this  place,  which 
is  about  four  or  five  miles  from  the  city  of  Boston. 
It  is  a  pleasant  thick  settled  village.  There  is  one 
Unitarian,  two  Congregational  or  Calvinistic,  and 
one  Methodist  meeting  in  this  place.  I  have  spent 
some  time  in  Boston  of  late.  I  frequently  attend 
meeting  there,  at  the  Bromfield  Lane  Chapel.  The 
Rev.  Mr,  Maffitt  and  Merrill  are  stationed  preach- 
ers there.  Mr.  Sias  preaches  here  occasionally  and 
I  have  every  thing  to  make  me  contented  and  hap- 
py but  natural  connexions,  I  have  been  expecting 
all  summer  to  visit  you  this  month  on  my  tour  to 
Ashford  Camp  Meeting — and  had  engaged  a  pass- 
age in  the  stage,  but  I  found  it  would  be  so  expen- 
sive— and  I  could  stay  so  short  a  time — that  I  con- 
cluded to  give  it  up — and  go  to  Lunenburg  with  my 
I  * 


132  FALL  RIVER. 

Boston  brethren.  We  started  for  that  place  August 
28th,  forty  in  number,  in  six  private  carriages.  It 
is  a  distance  of  fifty  miles.  We  had  good  weather 
all  the  time.  Between  20  and  30  ministers  were 
present,  and  about  five  thousand  people.  Nearly 
forty  persons  professed  to  have  past  from  death  unto 
life.  Friday  which  was  the  last  day  of  the  meeting 
between  five  and  six  hundred  professors  partook  of 
the  symbols  of  our  Saviour's  dying  love.  It  was  a 
circle  formed  within  the  tents.  The  scene  was  truly 
affecting — it  will  no  doubt  be  remembered  by  hun- 
dreds through  time  and  eternity. 

I  reside  about  half  a  mile  from  Mr.  Oathman's  fa- 
ther's that  used  to  preach  in  Providence,  he  is  fre- 
quently here  and  preaches.  The  good  people  of 
Dorchester  have  ever  treated  me  with  the  greatest 
respect.  But  it  is  uncertain  whether  I  spend  the 
winter  here  or  in  Boston.  I  have  had  several  op- 
portunities to  work  at  my  trade  there,  in  shops  where 
the  tailors  hire  fifteen  or  twenty  girls  to  make  coats 
and  nothing  else.  I  should  like  to  come  and  work 
a  month  with  Mr.  Rawson  if  I  could — but  I  cannot 
this  winter,  it  would  cost  all  of  eight  dollars  to  go 
to  Killingly,  and  back  again — and  my  health  has 
been  very  poor  this  summer,  and  I  have  not  been 
able  to  work  all  the  time,  but  through  the  goodness 
of  God  I  am  comfortable — though  much  has  been 
gaid,  and  I  have  suffered  very  much  from  false  re- 
ports in  time  past. 

I  enjoy  myself  as  well  as  I  could  expect  among 
strangers,  as  I  have  never  seen  but  three  faces  since 
I  left  Pawtucket*  that  I  ever  recollect  of  seeing  be- 
fore, viz.   Mr.   Maffitt,    Mr.  Oathman    and  Lydia 

*She  had  stopped  in  Pawtucket  on  her  way  down,  to  see  pprae 
^epCDections  le&iJing  tlicre. 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.  133 

Knight,  from  Smithfield.  After  all  th.it  is  past  I 
have  been  sustained  and  upheld  by  the  mighty  pow- 
er of  God,  and  still  retain  a  respectable  standing  in 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church — and  enjoy  a  com- 
fortable degree  of  the  presence  of  God.  Dear  Moth- 
er if  you  have  any  regard  for  me  do  write  if  it  is  on- 
ly two  lines,  and  direct  to  Maria  Cornell,  Milton 
Mass.  as  the  Post  Office  in  Dorchester  is  several 
miles  from  me,  and  I  should  not  get  it  in  some  time. 
Milton  office  is  only  across  a  bridge — I  shall  come 
and  see  you  another  sumn;2r  if  I  live  and  do  well. 
Yours  affectionately,  MARIA  CORNELL. 

No.  n.  Dorchester  Village,  March  2d.  1828. 
To  Mrs.  Cornell,  Sunday  noon. 

My  dear  Mother — Once  more  1  take  up  my  pen 
to  write  a  few  lines  to  my  parents,  as  nearly  six 
months  have  again  elapsed  since  I  have  heard  from 
you.  I  dont  hardly  feel  reconciled  to  think  so  many 
connections  and  friends  as  I  have  in  Connecticut 
and  Rhode  Island,  that  1  cannot  hear  from  any  of 
them  oftener  than  once  in  six  or  seven  months. 
Sometimes  I  think  they  have  lately  forgotten  me, 
but  1  have  no  reason  to  complain,  I  have  cause  to 
be  thankfull  that  it  is  as  well  with  me  as  it  is.  I 
am  tolerably  well  and  in  good  spirits — though  I  have 
never  been  well  enough  to  work ,  one  whole  month 
since  I  have  been  here.  My  work  has  been  very 
hard  the  winter  past,  and  I  have  got  almost  beat  out, 
I  have  been  weaving  on  four  looms  at  the  rate  of 
129  or  30  yds.  per  day,  at  1  half  cent  per  yard,  ray 
board  and  other  expences  are  considerable  here,  I 
feel  a  good  deal  attached  to  the  people  in  this  place, 
being  surrounded  by  some  very  dear  friends,  I  have 
•a   very  pleasant   boarding   house,  and  every  thing 


13  f 


FALL  RIVER. 


around  me  to  make  me  contented  and  happy.  It  is 
about  one  year  since  I  have  seen  any  of  you,  though 
to  me  I  trust  it  has  not  been  altogether  an  unprofit- 
able one ;  my  enjoyment  has  been  great — and  my 
privileges  very  many.  I  long  to  see  my  brother  and 
sister,  and  the  dear  little  babe,  and  I  have  been  se- 
riously thinking  of  visiting  Connecticut  the  summer 
coming,  if  Mr.  Rawson  expects  to  stay  in  Killingly 
another  year  and  it  should  be  agreeable  to  you  all,l 
think  I  shall  come  and  spend  a  week  with  you  some 
time  in  the  course  of  the  summer.  You  will  please 
to  let  me  know  before  the  first  of  April,  as  I  want 
to  know  how  to  make  my  arrangements. 

There  has  been  several  shocking  cases  of  suicide 
within  a  few  months  here,  one  of  which  a  man  about 
30  cut  his  throat  yesterday  a  few  rods  from  me,  he 
is  to  be  buried  this  afternoon,  he  was  intoxicated. 
I  have  not  yet  felt  as  though  I  could  see  him  it  brings 
so  fresh  to  mind  the  murder  at  Smithfield  I  felt  as 
though  I  had  rather  not  see  him. 

About  the  first  of  February  a  young  man  shot  him- 
self before  my  face  and  eyes,  I  was  looking  out  of 
my  window.  He  tied  himself  to  a  tree  and  placed 
the  gun  to  his  breast,  and  before  any  one  could  get 
to  him,  made  wa}  >vith  himself  A  girl  belonging 
to  this  establishment  threw  herself  into  the  river,  af- 
ter remaining  two  days  in  the  water  she  was  found, 
the  most  awful  sight  I  ever  beheld.  How  short  and 
uncertain  life  is,  it  vanishes  like  the  early  cloud  and 
the  morning  dew.  It  is  time  to  go  to  meeting  and  I 
must  close.  Give  my  last  love  to  Grindall  and  Lu- 
cretia,  and  tell  dear  little  Edward  aunt  Maria  wants 
to  see  him  very  much. 

Adieu,  I  am  vour  affectionate  though  unworthy 
child.  "  MARIA  CORNELL. 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.        135 

No.  12.  DouciiESTER  Village^  28th  1S28. 

I  received  yours  dated  March  ISfh  and  was  glad 
lo  hear  you  was  all  well,  my  health  is  pretty  good 
at  present,  you  mention  you  expect  to  visit  INorwich' 
this  summer,  I  wish  it  was  so  that  I  could  come 
and  go. with  you,  but  I  do  not  think  it  will  be  possi- 
ble, as  I  have  lately  given  five  dollars  for  the  purpose 
of  erecting  a  new  J\Iethodist  meetincr  house  in  this 
town,  which  is  to  be  built  by  subscription,' and  you 
had  better  make  your  calculations  to  go  to  Nor- 
wich early  as  you  can  as  you  will  probably  stay 
some  time.  I  expect  to  be  in  Killingly  somewhere 
about  the  20th  of  August  and  I  should  be  sadly  dis- 
appointed if  you  was  gone. 

You  will  please  present  my  best  respects  to  un- 
cle and  aunt  Lathrop  tell  them  that  I  long  to  see 
them,  and  if  it  is  my  aunt's  wish  to  see  me  I  should 
be  pleased  to  have  her  write  by  you.  I  desire  like- 
wise to  be  remembered  to  the  Rev.  David  Austin, 
tell  him  I  wrote  to  him  some  months  since,  but  as 
he  has  not  answered  my  letter  I  conclude  he  has 
forgotten  or  wishes  to  forget  me.  I  likewise  desire 
to  be  remembered  to  Deacon  Abel  and  his  wife,  Mr. 
Huntington  and  his  wife,  and  particularly  to  Lucy 
Abel,  and  all  others  who  enquire  after  your  daugh- 
ter Maria.  I  wish  you  to  write  me  immediately  on 
your  return  to  Norwich,  and  if  you  cannot  be  at 
home  the  time  I  have  set,  you  must  let  me  know. 

Adieu,  with  my  best  love  to  all — your  affection- 
ate daughter,  MARIA  CORNELL. 

No.  13.  Lowell,  Jan.  11th  1829. 

To  Mr?.  Cornell. 

Mv  dear  Mother — It  seems  a  long  time  since  I 
have  heard  from  you,  and  I  almost  begin  to  think 


1S6  FALL  RIVER. 

you  liave  forgotten  me  or  you  would  hare  written 
before  this.  I  have  written  two  letters  and  sent 
two  papers  since  I  have  resided  in  this  place,  and 
not  received  a  line  from  any  of  you.  I  hope  you 
will  consider  I  am  a  stranger  in  a  strange  land,  ex- 
posed to  sickness  and  death.  La-st  Saturday  night 
about  twelve  o'clock  I  v/as  called  a  second  time  to 
witness  a  five  story  flictory  with  all  its  machinery 
enveloped  in  flames.  It  was  a  bitter  cold  night 
and  with  great  ditticuky  they  made  out  to  save  the 
others  which  stood  on  each  side — there  were  five  of 
the  same  bigness  in  the  yard.  The  middle  one 
ccught  at  the  furnace  and  in  less  than  three  hours 
it  was  burned  to  the  ground.  I  expected  to  have 
seen  the  whole  thirteen,  with  the  whole  Corporation 
swept  by  the  flames.  But  through  the  rroodness  of 
that  God  who  rules  the  elements — although  the  air 
was  keen  and  cold — it  was  still  as  in  midsummer. 
The  damage  is  great,  but  the  distress  is  nothing  to 
what  it  was  in  Slatersville — as  each  factory  support- 
ed itself  No  one  was  personally  injured.  It  was 
my  lot  to  remove  on  the  other  side  the  river,  about 
half  a  mile  distant. 

I  feel  measurely  happy  and  contented,  but  do 
long  to  return  to  Connecticut  to  see  my  friends — 
v)ut  v.'hen  I  shall  is  unknown  at  present — think  I 
shall  never  set  any  time  to  come,  but  hope  I  shall 
next  summer  if  health  and  strength  permits. 

I  want  you  should  v/rite  as  soon  as  you  receive 
this — if  you  never  do  again — and  inform  me  how 
they  all  do  at  Norwich.  My  best  respects  to  my 
brother  and  sister-I  hope  they  are  doing  well — and 
the  children,  with  the  sincerest  affection  I  am  your 
unworthy  daughter, 

MARIA  CORNELL. 


Arf  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.  137 

No.  14.    Sabbath  morning,  Lowell,  May  Sd^  1S2{). 
3Irs.  Lucrctia  Rawson. 

Dear  Sister  and  friends — I  take  up  my  pen  once 
more  to  inform  yoii,  that  through  the  mercy  and 
goodness  of  God,  I  am  spared  to  see  one  more  anni- 
versary of  my  birth.  Twenty-seven  years  of  my 
short  life  has  rolled  on  to  eternity,  and  I  am  still  on" 
the  shores  of  time,  a  probationer  of  hope,  and  enjoy 
the  day  and  the  means  of  grace.  More  than  two 
years  have  past  by  since  I  have  seen  any  of  you,  or 
indeed  scarce  seen  one  individual  that  I  ever  saw 
before,  but  still  I  am  contented  and  happy.  I  am 
s';rrounded  by  many  dear  friends  who  are  near  and 
dear  by  the  ties  of  friendship  and  grace,  and  I  feel 
much  attached  to  the  place  and  people  here,  and 
the  religious  pivileges  1  enjoy  are  much  greater  than 
they  have  ever  been  before.^  But  still  I  often  look 
back  and  think  of  my  natural  connections  in  Con- 
necticut and  Rhode-Island,  and  long  to  be  with 
you.  I  have  been  thinking  of  coming  to  see  you 
for  two  summers — 1  feel  a  greater  desire  to  see  you 
now  than  I  ever  have  done'.  I  begin  to  think 
if  I  do  not  come  to  Killingly  this  summer  I  never 
shall.  I  received  a  letter  from  mother  about  four 
months  since  in  wliich  she  mentioned  she  thought 
I  was  a  moving  planet,  but  I  would  tell  my  dear 
mother  that  I  do  net  think  I  have  moved  much  for 
tw'o  years  past,  i  staid  in  Dorchester  more  than  a 
year,  and  it  will  be  a  year  the  17th  of  this  month 
since  I  came  to  Lowell — and  more  than  all  this  tell 
mother  she  must  remember  that  I  am  connected 
with  a  peopb  that  do  not  believe  in  tarrying  in  any 
one  place  longer  than  a  year  or  two  years  at  most 
at  any  one  time — and  I  am  with  them  in  sentiment 
belicvinrr  with  the  Apostls  that  ws  bhould  be  as 


138  FALL  RIVER. 

Strangers   and  pilgrims  having  here  no  continuing 
city  or  abiding  place,  but  seek  one  to  come. 

With  regard  to  my  views  and  feelings  respecting 
religion,  they  are  the  same  as  they  have  been  for 
two  years  past.  I  was  a  great  sinner  but  I  found  a 
great  Saviour.  Tis  true  I  had  made  a  formal  pro- 
fession of  religion,  but  when  I  was  brought  to  se6 
and  feel  the  necessity  of  being  deeply  devoted  to 
God,  my  views  and  feelings  were  vastly  altered.  I 
am  satisfied  for  one  that  a  form  of  godliness  will 
never  prepare  a  soul  for  the  enjoyment  of  heaven. 
For  "  great  is  the  mystery  of  godliness.  God  man- 
ifest in  the  flesh — ^justified  in  the  spirit — believed  on 
in  the  world,  and  received  up  into  glory."  Perhaps 
my  friends  may  think  strange  that  I  chose  a  people 
different  in  their  views  and  opinioits  from  that  which 
any  of  my  friends  have  embraced.  But  let  me  tell 
you  my  dear  sister  that  the  Methodists  are  my  peo- 
ple— with  them  by  the  grace  of  God  I  was  spiritu- 
ally born — with  them  I  have  tried  to  live,  and  if  ev- 
er permitted  to  enjoy  the  happiness  of  the  blest  in 
heaven  shall  probably  praise  God  to  all  eternity.  I 
see  my  beloved  .'^ister  a  fulness  in  the  Saviour,  and 
I  believe  it  is  the  privilege  of  the  child  of  God  to 
enjoy  all  the  depths  of  humble  love. 

It  seems  inconsistent  to  me  for  the  profest  follow- 
ers of  the  meek  and  lowly  Jesus,  who  have  said  by 
their  profession  that  they  have  bid  farewell  to  the 
world  to  follow  its  customs  and  fashions.  It  has 
appeared  to  me  some  tim.e  that  it  was  good  for  the 
proud  heart  to  be  adorned  v.ith  the  modest  livery  of 
God's  dear  children,  and  to  have  a  daily  evidence 
that  our  witness  is  in  heaven  and  our  record  on  high. 
The  bell  rings  for  meeting  and  I  must  draw  my  let- 
ter to  a  close.     If  nothing  more  than   what  I  know 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATirE.        159 

of  prevents  I  shall  be  in  Killingly  sometime  between 
the  middle  of  August  and  first  of  Sept.  I  do  not 
know  why  you  or  Mr.  Rawson  have  not  written  to 
me.  I  want  one  of  you  to  answer  this  previous  to 
the  first  of  June  and  let  me  know  what  your  wishes 
are,  and  I  shall  act  accordingly.  I  am  affectionate- 
ly your  sister,  MARIA  CORNELL. 

P  S.  I  am  obliged  to  write  where  there  are  ^30  or 
40  boarders  a  gabbling — so  excuse  mistakes. 

No.  15.  Low^ELL,  Jan.  17th,  1830. 

To  Mrs.  Cornell, 

My  dear  Mother — After  waiting  for  more  tlian 
eight  long  months  for  an  answer  to  a  letter  that  I 
wrote  you  last  spring,  I  once  more  take  up  my  pen 
to  address  you.  You  wrote  me  then  you  were  go- 
ing to  visit  your  friends  at  Norwich,  and  that  you 
would  write  me  immediately  on  your  return,  but  as 
I  have  never  received  a  line  from  that  time,  I  have 
concluded  that  you  were  there  or  were  sick  or  dead, 
for  it  appears  to  me  if  you  were  in  the  land  of  the 
living  and  possest  a  parent's  feelings  you  would  have 
written  before  this.  When  I  last  wrote  to  you  that 
if  the  Lord  spared  my  life  and  health  I  should  visit 
Connecticut  in  August  last  past.  A  long  time  I 
waited  for  your  return  from  Norwich,  thinking  you 
would  write  and  let  me  know,  but  at  length  conclu- 
ded it  was  neither  your  wish  nor  that  of  my  brother 
and  sister  that  I  should  visit  Killingly — but  enough 
of  this — I  will  cease  to  trouble  your  minds  with 
such  painful  feelings.  Not  a  day  has  rolled  over  my 
head  since  I  left  you  but  what  I  have  thought  of 
home,  and  the  dear  friends  I  have  left  many  miles 
from  this.  I  can  tell  you  that  although  deprived  of 
every  earthly  connexion  or  even  of  a  correspondence 

K 


140  PALL  RIVER. 

with  them,  and  one  hundred  miles  lies  between  me 
and  the  friends  of  ray  youth,  still  I  am  contented, 
still  I  am  happy,  the  present  witness  of  an  indwell- 
ing God  fills  my  soul,  and  I  am  walking  hand  in 
hand  with  a  large  circle  of  dear  friends  to  Mount- 
Zion  the  city  oi  the  living  God. 

My  situation  is  as  pleasant  as  I  could  expect.  I 
have  daily  blessings  heaped  upon  me.  I  am  fed 
from  day  to  day  like  the  ravens,  and  I  can  say  to 
you  to  day  I  am  happy  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  love 
of  God  and  I  anticipate  one  day  though  separated 
from  the  society  of  my  friends  here  below,  meeting 
them  in  the  kingdom  of  God.  Glory  to  God  for  re- 
ligion that  makes  the  soul  happy,  a  religion  that 
brings  peace  and  tranquility  will  prepare  the  sou}' 
in  the  language  of  the  Psalmist  to  say — "  Though  I 
walk  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death  I 
will  fear  no  evil — for  thou  art  with  me,  thy  rod  and 
thy  staff  comfort  me."  I  left  Lowell  last  May  on 
account  of  my  health  and  staid  until  Oct.  in  Boston 
and  worked  at  my  trade,  except  what  time  I  was 
gone  down  on  the  water  to  Cape  Cod.  I  went  to 
Camp  Meeting  in  August,  as  usual  was  gone  ten 
days,  cast  anchor  three  days — went  ashore  three 
miles  from  where  we  set  sail,  having  in  company 
upwards  of  two  hundred,  fourteen  of  which  were 
Methodist  Ministers.  Had  about  twelve  sermons 
preached  on  board,  and  one  on  the  shore — dug 
clams — had  plenty  of  good  codfish,  crackers  and 
coffee — and  on  the  eleventh  day  reached  Boston 
wharf  in  better  health  and  better  spirits  than  when 
I  left — having  had  but  about  six  good  hours  sleep  in 
ten  nights.  Just  at  this  moment  one  of  brother 
Rawson's  Camp  Meeting  stories  has  popt  into  my 
head  and  methinks  I  hear  him  sav,  "  Well  Maria 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.       141 

this  is  one  of  your  Camp  Meeting  scrapes."  Let  me 
tell  you  my  dear  brother  I  love  them  now  as  well  as 
I  did  five  years  ago.  Yea  far  better — for  I  have 
known  real  good  produced  by  them. 

Time  reproves  me  and  I  must  draw  to  a  close  by 
saying  dear  mother  do  write  to  me  immediately — 
dear  brother  and  sister  do  write  and  let  me  know 
whether  you  are  in  the  land  of  the  living,  whether 
you  live  in  Killingly — whether  you  prosper  in  spirit- 
ual and  in  temporal  things.  As  to  myself  I  have 
enough  of  the  good  things  of  this  life.  I  brought 
nothing  into  this  world,  and  I  expect  to  carry  noth- 
ing out,  a  stranger  and  a  pilgrim  here. 

My  best  wishes  and  most  fervent  prayers  will  ever 
attend  my  dear  parent.     Once  more  I  say  dear  moth- 
er write  to  me,  direct  to  Lowell,  Massachusetts. 
Your  daughter,  MARIA  CORNELL. 

No.  16.  Lowell,  July  4th,  1830. 

To  Mrs.  Cornell! 

My  dear  Mother — I  take  this  opportunity  to  ac- 
knowledge the  reception  of  two  letters,  one  of  which 
I  received  last  week.  You  say  you  should  like  to 
have  me  come  to  Killingly  this  summer.  Last  sum- 
mer I  made  my  calculations  to  visit  you,  and  should 
have  done  so  if  you  had  written — but  I  have  not 
thought  very  seriously  of  visiting  you  this  summer, 
until  I  received  your  last  letter.  I  then  thought  I 
should  come  immediately,  but  finding  my  engage- 
ments such  that  I  could  not  be  absent  from  here 
more  than  a  week  or  ten  days  at  most — I  have  con- 
cluded that  the  time  I  should  stay  would  be  so  short 
— the  expence  would  be  more  than  it  would  gratify 
either  of  us.  I  am  now  preparing  to  go  down  on 
the  water  to  camp  meeting  where  I  went  last  year. 


142  FALL  RIVER. 

My  health  is  tolerably  good  for  the  season,  I  never 
enjoyed  my  health  better  than  after  I  went  on  the 
salt  water,  although  I  was  very  sea-sick.  It  is  my 
intention  now  to  spend  two  or  three  weeks  with  you 
in  the  spring,  if  life,  health,  and  strength  are  spared 
ine. 

I  have  been  in  Lowell  so  long  that  I  should  feel 
lonesome  any  where  else.  My  love  to  my  sister,  tell 
her  I  long  to  see  her  and  the  children.  I  shall  write 
to  Mr.  Rawson  as  soon  as  I  return  from  the  Cape, 
though  I  never  received  a  liie  from  him  or  Lucretia 
since  they  were  married,  but  I  expect  my  sisters 
time  is  pretty  much  taken  up  with  her  children. 

You  Vv'ill  please  inform  me  in  your  next  if  you 
have  heard  any  thing  from  my  brother  James.  The 
bell  is  ringing  for  meeting  and  I  must  close.  I  will 
send  this  piece  of  paper,  it  was  thought  it  resembled 
me  when  it  was  taken — but  I  wear  my  hair  in  my 
neck  short  now,  and  it  does  not  look  so  natural. 

I  am  your  affectionate  though  absent  child. 
MARIA  CORNELL. 

No.  17.  Tauxton,  March  10th,  1S32.      . 

To  Mrs.  Cornell. 

My  dear  Mother — I  sent  a  little  pamphlet  to  Mr, 
Rawson  a  few  days  since  but  I  dont  know  as  he  will 
understand  what  I  meant,  I  pitched  my  tent  in 
Taunton  last  fall,  about  the  time  of  the  riot  in  Provi- 
dence, r  should  have  written  before,  but  I  knew  I 
could  not  make  you  a  visit  in  the  winter,  for  this  rea- 
son I  kept  still.  I  am  now  in  very  good  buisness^ 
and  I  do  not  want  to  lose  my  place,  which  I  must 
do  if  I  come  to  Killingly  at  present.  You  will  prob- 
ably wish  to  know  what  buisness  I  am  in,  I  am  hook- 
ing up,  and  folding  cloth  and  keeping  the  weaving 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.        143 

room  books,  I  have  the  whole  charge  of  the  cloth 
and  my  employer  is  unwilling  1  should  be  absent 
even  for  one  day,  though  )  sometimes  have  two  or 
three  hours  leisure  in  the  course  of  the  day,  I  think 
however  I  shall  get  leave  to  come  and  see  you  at 
Providence,  if  you  could  come  there  and  meet  me  at 
uncle  M — s,  1  v.ill  set  a  time,  and  I  wish  you  to 
write  me  immediately — whether  it  will  be  conveni- 
ient  for  you  to  come,  I  want  to  see  Mr.  Rawson  and 
Lucretia,  I  hope  I  shall  some  time  in  the  course  of 
the  present  year.  I  will  meet  you  in  Providence 
ihe  ISth  of  May,  or  15th  of  June,  just  which  will 
be  the  most  convenient  for  you,  1  cannot  leave  the 
jfirstor  last  of  a  month.  Your  daughter  in  haste. 

S.  M.  CORNELL. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  circumstances  detailed  in  the  life  of  Avery, 
need  little  cotiinient ;  every  one  must  see  in  the 
persecution  of  Miss  V/insor,  and  the  slander  of  Rev. 
Mr.  Norris,  that  Avery  was  a  man -of  wicked,  and 
revengeful,  and  persecuting  temper ;  and  his  fre- 
quent closetings  in  the  famous  study  with  females, 
and  the  sad  and  grieved  appearance  of  his  wife, 
€peak  volumes.  When  apprehended  for  the  slander 
against  Mr.  Norris,  he  was  taken  from  the  desk 
cluring  a  prayer  meeting,  by  Mr.  Kimball,  a  sheriff 
fet  Lowell,  and  was  so  much  frightened  as  to  faint, 
and  several  persons  then  made  the  remark,  that  he 
probably  feared  it  was  for  some  very  different  of- 
fence he  was  apprehended.  But  when  put  under 
arrest  at  Bristol  for  the  alleged  murder  of  Miss  Cor- 
nell, it  was  said  he  exhibited  great  firmness,  and 
during  his  trial  discovered  no  signs  of  fear  and  but 
little  agitation. 

To  pass  any  comments  upon  that  trial  after  the 
able  Strictures  published  by  ''  Aristides,"  would 
look  like  vanity  indeed,  yet  a  few  facts  which  have 
come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  author  it  may  not  be 
amiss  to  mention,  particularly  as  many  who  read 
this  may  not  have  seen  the  ingenious  and  masterly 
criticisms  of  the  trial  referred  to.  Preliminary  to 
the  facts  we  are  about  to  state,  we  will  just  make  a 
short  extract  from  that  work. 

^'  Never  was  a  criminal  trial  instituted  and  car- 


AN  AUTIIEInTIC  NARRATIVE.  145 

Tied  through  in  this  country  in  which  so  mucli 
baseness  was  manifest,  so  much  chicanery  practis- 
ed, the  public,  the  government,  the  court  and  the 
jury,  so  deeply  insulted,  nor  an  accused  man  ac- 
^•quitted  with  such  a  chain  of  circumstances  against 
■  him.  The  whole  machinery  of  the  methodist  church 
:has  been  brought  into  operation  and  its  artillery 
made  to  bear  on  the  battlements  of  the  hall  of  jus- 
tice. Perjury,  base  and  foul  has  been  committed 
'On  the  stand,  under  the  sanction  of  a  religious  garb 
to  protect  a  wretch  from  punishment.' ' 

How  much  of  perjury  was  practised  on  the  stand 
'We  are  unable  to  say,  but  certain  it  is  there  was 
igreat  exertion  made  to  prevent  witnesses  testifying 
■against  the  prisoner,  by  his  friends  the  methodists  ; 
•most  unwarrantable  means  used  to  prevent  the  truth 
coming  out.  The  circumstance  related  by  Aristides 
respecting  a  sheriff  of  Newport  having  to  run  a  race 
•with  a  methodist  minister,  of  nine  miles,  to  see  who 
would  get  there  first,  the  sheriff  to  summon  her  or 
the  preacher  to  prevent  her,  is  strictly  true,  and  that 
after  all  the  vigilance  of  the  sheriff  the  parson  won 
the  day  and  arrived  there  first,  and  when  the  sheriff 
came,  the  woman  (a  Mrs.  Brownell  if  we  recollect 
•right)  pretended  to  be  too  sick  to  go  ;  what  her  tes- 
timony would  have  been  if  let  alone  we  do  not 
know,  but  if  we  are  to  judge  of  its  importance  by 
the  violent  efforts  made  to  stop  her  going,  we  must 
presume  it  to  have  had  great  bearing  upon  the  case. 
A  similar  in-stance  occurred  in  Thompson,  (Conn.) 
A  Mrs.  Patty  Ja-con,  a  witness  for  the  prisoner,  sta- 
ted some  circumstances  which  she  said  occurred  at 
the  Thompson  Camp  Meeting,  of  a  very  different 
complexion  from  the  story  told  by  her  in  Court.  Mrs. 
Bacon's  daughters,  thinking  it  of  some  importance 


146  PALL  RIVER. 

to  the  case  communicated  it  immediately  to  the 
friends  of  the  deceased,  but  before  they  or  the  coun- 
sel for  the  government  could  have  a  chance  to  con- 
verse with  her,  she  had  had  a  conversation  with 
some  of  the  methodist  clergy,  and  when  she  was 
afterwards  interrogated  upon  the  subject,  denied  ev- 
ery word  of  it,  and  that  she  had  ever  said  so,  the 
testimony  of  her  two  daughters  and  son-in-law  to 
the  contrary  notwithstanding,  and  was  afterwards 
found  on  the  stand  testifying  that  "  she  had  suspic- 
ions of  the  situation  of  S.  M.  Cornell  at  the  Camp 
Meeting,"  to  the  amazement  of  her  own  family, 
who  had  never  heard  any  suspicions  mentioned  from 
her  before.  The  statement  she  made  to  her  two 
daughters  and  son-in-law,  was  this  :  "  That  a  very 
tall  man  with  a  dark  frock  coat,  and  broad  brimmed 
hat  whom  she  took  to  be  a  methodist  minister,  (she 
did  not  then  know  Avery)  came  to  tl\e  Muddy  Brook 
tent  three  times,  Thursday,  enquiring  for  Sarah  Ma- 
ria Cornell,  and  that  she  afterwards  saw  the  same 
jnan  conversing  with  her  without  the  tent."  All  this 
shestoutly  denied  after  the  abovementioned  confer- 
ence. This  woman  was  a  member  of  the  methodist 
church.  Again  a  Mr.  Windsor,  a  respectable  innkeep- 
er in  Dudley,  was  standing  on  the  west  side  of  the 
camp  ground  on  the  memorable  Thursday  afternoon 
near  the  time  of  the  blowing  of  the  horn,  with  a  Mr. 
Jason  or  Judson  Phipps,  and  a  gentleman  and 
lady  passed  them,  when  Windsor  enquired  who  they 
were,  and  was  answered  by  Phipps  that  it  was  a  Mr. 
Avery  and  Miss  Cornell,  and  added  ''  I  am  watch- 
ing them,"  Phipps  afterwards  in  Windsor's  bar 
room  recalled  the  circumstance  to  mind,  and  in 
presence  of  several  persons  said,  **  that  man  was 
Avery  and  the  woman  Miss  Cornell^  I  know  them 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARrfATIYE.  147 

both."  It  got  out  of  course  that  he  had  said  so,  and 
when  the  gentlemen  in  search  of  evidence  for  the 
government  called  on  him,  the  following  dialogue 
took  place. 

Question. — "  Did  you  tell  Mr.  Windsor  those  per- 
sons walking  together  were  Mr.  Avery  and  Miss 
Cornell  ? 

Answer. — "  I  might  and  I  might  not." 

Question. — "  Did  you  or  did  you  not  say  in  an- 
swer to  the  question  of  Windsor,  '  who  are  those  V 
say  it  is  a  Mr.  Avery  and  Sarah  Maria  Cornell,  and 
I  am  watching  them." 

Answer. — "  I  might  and  I  might  not." 

The  same  answer  was  invariably  returned,  and  it 
was  all  they  could  get  out  of  him,  until  the  gentle- 
men were  obliged  to  give  it  up  in  despair.  Nothing 
could  be  drawn  from  him. 

Mr.  Asa  Upham,  a  sober  industrious  man,  said  to 
be  a  man  of  property  and  respectability,  said  he  saw 
nnd  knew  Avery  and  S.  M.  Cornell,  and  saw  them 
walking  arm  and  arm  together,  in  the  woods  near 
the  camp  ground.  This  person  went  to  testify  at 
the  trial,  and  found  the  methodists  had  procured 
three  persons  to  swear  him  down,  and  having  no 
means  there  to  testify  to  the  character  of  these  wit- 
nesses, he  would  not  stay.  Being  an  inhabitant  of 
another  State  they  could  not  detain  him.  What 
sort  of  persons  the  methodists  had  employed  to  tes- 
tify against  the  veracity  of  this  man  may  be  gather- 
ed from  the  fact,  that  two  of  them  were  so  intoxica- 
ted before  they  got  half  way  from  Providence  to 
Thompson,  as  to  be  scarce  able  to  continue  their 
journey.  We  can  state  this  fact  without  quoting 
''  Aristides." 

The  attempts  to  brow  beat  witnesses  in  Court, 


148  'fall  river. 

to  confuse  and  perplex  them,  so  as  if  possible  to 
cause  them  to  falter  or  contradict  themselves  on  the 
stand,  was  another  most  ungentlemanly,  unmanly 
and  unchristian  proceeding,  and  was  probably  car- 
ried to  a  greater  extent  by  the  prisoner's  counsel 
than  has  ever  been  attempted  in  any  criminal  case 
in  this  country,  at  least  it  is  believed  so  by  nineteen 
twentieths  of  the  persons  who  attended  the  trial ; 
and  when  the  witnesses  chanced  to  be  persons  of 
so  much  firmness  that  this  was  deemed  impossible, 
either  some  one  was  brought  up  to  impeach  their 
character  for  truth,  generally,  or  to  swear  that  they 
had  stated  different  to  them  at  some  other  time. 

Among  the  witnesses  tampered  with,  there  was 
none  perhaps  who  underwent  a  more  fiery  trial  than 
Mrs.  Sarah  Jones.  As  her  name  is  mentioned  sev- 
eral times  in  the  trial,  she  will  be  readily  recollect- 
ed, but  as  the  whole  story  cannot  be  perfectly  un- 
derstood from  that  that  is  told,  and  the  whole  is  not 
related,  we  will  give  the  narrative  as  she  has  given 
it  to  us,  accompanied  with  her  certificate  to  the 
truth  of  it. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Drake,  while  enquiring  in  that 
neighborhood  if  any  body  had  seen  Avery,  heard 
her  say  she  saw  a  man  in  the  morning;  he  wanted 
to  know  why  it  was  not  as  easy  for  her  to  say  it  was 
in  the  afternoon  as  morning.  By  this  means  Avery 
and  his  counsel  became  possessed  of  the  fact  that 
Mrs.  Jones  had  seen  a  stranger  pass  their  house  in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  coal  mines,*  or  rather  on 
the  route  to  it,  in  a  very  early  state  of  the  business, 

*  Perhaps  there  is  not  a  set  of  people  in  New-England  more 
primitive  in  their  manners  than  some  on  this  part  of  the  island. 
The  following  lines  were  composed  it  is  said  bj-  an  old  lady  over 
eighty  years  of  age,  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  coal  mines.  We 
do  not  know  when  we  have  taken   up  aiiy  thing  tltat  sounded  so 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.  149 

♦lirectly  after  lie  was  put  under  arrest,  and  previous 
to  the  examination  at  Bristol,  and  they  sent  for  her 
to  come  to  his  house.  When  arrived  there,  she  was 
very  cordially  greeted  by  Mr.  Avery,  who  introdu- 
ced her  to  the  presiding  Elder  as  "one  of  his  wit- 
nesses, who  saw  him  on  the  Island,''  and  she  was 
asked  to  relate  the  circumstances  in  presence  of  his 
attorney  and  the  others.  This  she  did.  She  had 
been  looking  out  all  the  morning  for  the  return  of  a 
brother  who  had  been  living  at  the  eastward,  and 
was  expected  back  on  that  day.  Between  11  and 
12  o'clock  she  saw  a  man  come  through  the  white 
gate,  and  come  within  ten  or  fifteen  rods  of  her. 
She  described  his  course  by  answers  to  questions, 
gave  an  account  of  his  route,   and  of  the  countr}', 

much  like  olden  time ;  if  it  amuses  the  readers  of  this  book  as 
much  as  it  did  the  autlior,  it  will  well  repay  tliem  tlie  trouble  of 
reading  it. 

"  Young  virgins  all  a  warning  take 
Remember  Avery's  knot  [spelt  not.] 

Enough  to  make  your  heart  to  ache, 
Don't  let  it  be  forgot. 

You  mothers  that  have  infants 

To  sympathize  and  mourn, 
Such  murder  never  was  done  here 

Or  ever  yet  was  known. 

He  killed  the  mother  and  the  child. 

What  a  wicked  man  was  he; 
The  devil  helped  him  all  the  while. 

How  wicked  he  must  be. 

He  dragged  her  around  upon  the  ground 

Till  she  no  noise  could  make 
Contrived  a  lot — tied  Avery's  knot 

And  hung  her  to  a  stake. 

The  devif  he  was  standing  by 

A  laughing  in  his  sleeve. 
It  is  so  plain  he  can't  deny 

He  must  not  be  reprieved. 


loO  FALL  RIVER. 

which  the  counsel  traced  by  chalk  marks  on  the 
floor  as  fast  as  she  described  it.  Thus  did  the  sim- 
plicity of  this  woman  furnish  a  pretty  correct  map 
of  the  country.  But  unfortunately,  the  man  she 
persisted  she  saw  in  the  fore7Won ;  and  when  she 
came  out,  Avery,  who  went  with  her  to  the  door,. 
said  in  passing  the  entry,  laying  his  hand  on  Mrs. 
Jones'  shoulder,  and  looking  imploringly  in  her  face,, 
''  My  life  is  worth  more  to  me  than  a  thousand 
worlds,  and  my  life  depends  upon  my  witnesses — 
can't  you  recollect  Mrs.  Jones  that  it  was  in  the  ai-- 
ternoon?"  but,  "  say  nothing,"  he  added,  to  which 
Mrs.  Jones  answered  she  would  not,  and  as  she  saya 
kept  her  word  until  circumstances  made  it  imperi- 
ously necessary  she  should  disclose  this  interview^ 
and  the  conversation  that  took  place. 

On  the  day  that  Mrs.  Jones'  testimony  was  re- 
quired, at  theexamiftationof  the  prisoner  in  Bristol^ 
she  w  as  brought  over  and  was  stopped  at  the  house 
of  a  Mr.  Tilley  in  Bristol ;  where  a  Reverend 
gentleman  met  her,  she  says,  at  the  door,  ex- 
He  preached  the  gospel  night  and  day; 

What  a  wicked  man  was  he; 
The  devil  helped  him  to  preach  and  pray; 
How  wicked  he  must  be. 

How  could  he  stand  to  preach  and  pray 

With  murder  in  his  heart; 
The  devil  helped  him  day  by  day, 

And  he  will  make  him  smart. 

Methodism  he  did  profess 

For  that  was  his  belief, 
How  can  he  ever  take  his  rest, 

He  must  not  be  reprieved. 

Hang  him,  hang  him  on  a  tree 

Tie  around  him  Avery's  knot, 
Forever  let  him  hanged  b« 

And  never  be  forgot." 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.        151 

claiming,  "  now  Mrs  Jones,  you  must  remember  if 
was  in  the  afternoon  when  you  saw  the  man,  for  Ol- 
iver Brownell  has  just  sworn  he  saw  the  same  man, 
and  it  was  in  the  afternoon J^  For  a  moment  she 
said  she  felt  almost  bewildered,  but  the  firm  convic- 
tion that  she  had  stated  nothing  but  the  truth,  and 
that  if  there  were  ever  so  many  men  of  that  descrip- 
tion seen  in  the  afternoon,  the  one  she  saw  was  in. 
the  morning.  Directly  some  one  came  up  to  her 
and  shook  hands,  saying,  "  we  have  been  to  tea, 
and  Mrs,  Jones  here  has  not :  you  will  be  so  good 
as  to  get  her  some,  will  you  not — as  soon  as  possi- 
ble?" and  the  good  sisters  hurried  to  get  her  tea,, 
overwhelming  her  with  civilities.  The  tea  was  al- 
ready on  the  table,  and  the  lady  about  to  partake  of 
their  hospitality,  when  she  was  called  for  to  the 
court.  Two  of  the  daughters  of  mine  host  volun- 
teered to  accompany  her,  thinking  she  would  feel 
intimidated  to  go  without  any  female,  arid  on  the 
way,  short  as  it  was,  endeavoured  to  influence  her 
to  say  it  was  in  the  afternoon.  One  says,  "  well 
you  saw  brother  Avery,  it  seems,  on  the  island?" 
"  No,  I  don't  suppose  it  could  have  been  him,"  said 
Mrs.  Jones^  "  the  man  I  saw  was  in  the  morning." 
**0h,  it  must  have  been  him,"  said  one,  *' it  could 
not  have  been  any  body  else  ;  and  you  must  try  to 
remember  it  was  in  the  afternoon."  By  this  time 
the  trio  had  arrived  at  the  scene  of  action,  where 
the  matter  was  put  upon  oath ;  and  Mrs,  Jones  de- 
scribed the  stranger,  who  really,  from  her  descrip- 
tion, must  have  borne  some  faint  resemblance  in 
person  to  the  prisoner.  But  alas !  the  stubborn  wit- 
ness v/ould  not  say  it  was  in  the  afternoon  :  after  all 
the  examining,  cross  examining,  and  twisting  of  ev- 
idence, nothing  could  be  got  out  of  her  but  the 
L 


152  FALL  RIVER. 

same  old  story,  "  it  was  in  the  forenoon."  Was 
there  ever  such  obstinacy  heard  of?  that  so  many 
civilities  should  have  been  thrown  away !  But  so  it 
was :  and  the  woman  was  conducted  back  to  the 
house  of  Mr.  Tilley,  where  she  had  engaged  to  re- 
turn to  tea,  hurt  and  abashed  by  the  altered  looks  of 
her  now  silent  guides.  Nothing  was  said  except  as 
one  looked  mournfully  upon  her,  and,  as  she  thought, 
reproachfully,  and  said  "we  were  in  hopes  you 
would  have  remembered  it  ?cas  in  the  afternoon'* 
Poor  Mrs.  Jones  went  in  with  a  heavy  heart,  feeling 
that  she  had  disappointed  the  hopes  of  the  prison- 
er's friends,  but  (unable  by  any  sophistry  she  could 
imagine,  to  make  out  that  between  eleven  and  twelve 
o'clock  was  in  the  afternoon)  with  an  approving 
conscience.  She  said  the  young  ladies  passed  into 
the  other  room  and  were  followed  by  one  and  anoth- 
er. There  was  a  whispering  conversation  going  on 
there,  and  each,  upon  returning,  would  eye  her 
with  scornful  and  angry  looks.  It  seemed,  she 
said,  as  though  the  tea  never  would  be  ready,  but 
at  length  she  was  called.  "  Never,"  said  the  poor 
woman,  "  did  I  eat  a  meal  before  that  I  thought 
was  begrudged  to  me."  But  at  length,  she  said, 
she  took  courage,  and  feeling  tired  and  faint,  re- 
solved to  "drink  as  much  tea,  and  eat  as  much  as 
she  wanted  to ;"  directly  after  which  she  took  leave 
of  her  now  ungracious  hosts  and  went  to  a  tavern, 
and  staid  all  night,  and  rose  early  on  the  following 
morning  and  returned  home  : — a  distance  of  four 
miles  including  the  ferry,  which  she  had  to  give 
eight  cents  to  cross.  From  this  time  until  after 
Avery's  flight,  and  his  being  taken  again,  nothing 
could  exceed  the  scornful  and  supercilious  manners 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.        153 

of  the  Methodiststotliis  woman,  by  her  description, 
whenever  she  met  any  of  them.  Her  own  express- 
ion was,  "  they  turned  up  their  noses  at  her,  and 
would  not  speak."  But  when  Avery,  after  his  liight, 
was  pursued  and  taken  again,  to  her  amazement, 
all  at  once  their  manners  changed.  Whether  they 
had  pouted  it  out  till  their  resentment  had  worked 
itself  otr,  or  whatever  was  the  cause,  they  now  be- 
gan to  relax  the  muscles  of  their  faces,  and  not  only 
to  give  her  the  time  of  day,  but  even  to  shake 
hands  very  cordially  and  enquire  after  her  health. 
Behold  a  polite  letter  arrived  from  Bristol,  dated  28th 
March,  enclosing  three  dollars;  the  letter  states  that 
it  encloses  the  fee  for  travel  and  attendance  in  the 
case  of  the  State  against  E.  K.  Avery,  but  does  not 
mention  the  sura — the  sum  enclosed  was  three  dol- 
lars, she  states,  and  it  appears  she  opened  it  in  the 
presence  of  another  person.  When  the  trial  came 
on  at  Newport,  she  was  again  summoned  by  the 
prisoner  to  testify.  She  was  in  the  State  and  was 
obliged  to  go.  The  person,  a  methodist,  who 
went  to  carry  her,  and  she  said  to  him,  "what 
did  you  come  for  me  for  my  evidence  can  do  Mr. 
Avery  no  good,  for  the  man  I  saw  was  in  themor 
ing."  "  Why  we  were  in  hopes  Mrs.  Jones,  you 
would  remember  it  icas  in  the  afternoon,'^  was  the 
answer.  Arrived  at  Newport  she  was  conveyed  to 
the  house  where  the  Lowell  witnesses  were  quarter- 
ed, where  she  was  again  hampered  to  say  it  was  in 
the  afternoon  when  she  saw  the  man  on  the  island. 
She  said  the  witnesses  were  shut  up  together  in  the 
front  room  of  the  house,  and  practising  most  of  the 
evening  to  try  to  make  the  clove  hitch,  the  Whitney 
girl  and  all,  and  that  they  asked  her  to  show  them. 


154  FALL  RIVER. 

*'  I  cannot  for  I  never  saw  one  made  in  my  life," 
she  answered.  *'  I  did  not  state  this  circumstance 
to  the  court,"  said  she  in  her  narration,  "because 
I  did  not  then  think  it  of  any  importance,  but  when 
I  found  one  of  those  very  girls  came  forward  in  court 
and  swore  she  had  been  used  to  seeing  it  in  making 
harnesses,  and  showed  how  it  might  have  been  used 
by  the  deceased  to  han^  herself,  I  then  recrretted 
extremely  I  had  not  told  that  this  very  girl  had  been 
drilling  to  practice  that  manceuvre  all  the  evening, 
and  that  they  did  not,  when  1  was  with  them,  appear 
to  understand  how  to  make  it,  and  asked  me  to 
shew  them." 

Unable  to  twist  the  evidence  of  this  woman  to 
suit  their  purpose,  the  friends  of  the  prisoner  en- 
deavoured to  make  it  appear,  on  the  stand,  that  she 
had  contradicted  herself  once  or  twice  in  conversa- 
tion :  but  they  did  not  make  it  out  very  clearly  ;  al- 
though it  was  a  subject  of  amazement  to  many  that 
she  had  not  done  it  repeatedly,  placed,  as  she  had 
been,  in  circumstances  of  such  embarrassment  and 
temptation.  Since  writing  the  narrative  the  author 
has  been  warned  by  some  of  Avery's  friends  not  to 
place  any  reliance  upon  any  thing  this  woman 
should  tell,  as  there  would  not  be  a  word  of  truth 
in  any  of  it.  But  when  we  wished  to  see  the  letter 
from  Bristol,  in  confirmation  of  that  part  of  her  story, 
and  she  produced  it;  and  after  ascertaining  from 
the  people  of  the  house,  that  she  was  not  only  on 
that  evening,  at  the  house,  with  the  Lowell  witness- 
es and  the  girls  named;  but  that  they  were  "  shut  up 
hy  themselves  in  the  front  roomj'  the  very  words  she 
used;  and  that  those  girls  were  repeatedly  seen  prac- 
tising upon  that  knot  while  there ;  we  could  not  but 


AN  \UTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.  155 

believe  it :  particularly,  as  v/e  have  never  in  all  our 
travels  been  able  to  find  an}'  one  who  used  the  clove 
hitch  in  harnesses,  and  have  seen  at  least  hundreds 
making. 

Mr.  John  N.  Smith,  who  testified  to  the  cord  be- 
ing different  fi-oin  that  used  in  factories,  was  urged 
to  go  as  a  witness  for  the  prisoner,  which  he  refused 
because  he  knew  his  evidence  must  be  against  him, 
of  course.  One  person,  a  Methodist,  and  if  we  re- 
collect right  a  deacon  in  the  meeting,  urged  him  to 
go  to  Newport  to  testifj'  for  the  prisoner.  Said  he, 
"you  will  be  at  no  expense — and  here  is  a  five  dol- 
lar bill,  if  you  will  go."  We  asked  leave  of  Mr. 
Smith  to  state  this  fact,  saying  such  things  ought  to 
be  exposed.  He  objected,  saying  he  was  ashamed 
to  have  it  known  that  any  man  should  dare  to  offer 
him  a  bribe. 

It  must  be  evident  to  every  candid  observer,  that 
the  testimony  for  the  prisoner  in  many  instances 
was  overdone.  For  instance,  had  two  or  three  re- 
spectable persons  of  good  standing  in  society  stated 
that  the  character  of  S.  M.  Cornell  was  not  good, 
and  that  she  was  plotting,  revengeful,  &c.  it  would 
have  gone  farther  toward  convincing  the  minds  of 
the  public  than  all  this  array  of  questionable  evi- 
dence ;  a  great  deal  of  it  was  entirely  irrelevant 
to  the  case  ;  a  vast  deal  appeared  to  have  no  object 
but  to  blacken  the  character  of  one  as  we  observ- 
ed before,  who  was  ^^  where  she  could  not  answer  them 
hack  again"  and  injured  in  a  very  material  manner 
the  credit  of  a  society  who  could  tolerate  such  a 
character  (allowing  that  she  was  so,)  so  much  as 
to  retain  her  among  them,  to  be  on  any  terms  at 
all  with  her.  To  receive  again  a  woman  upon  pro- 
bation, who  had  once  been  expelled  upon  such  a 


156  FALL  RIVER. 

charge  as  Doctor  Graves  made  against  her.  Gra- 
cious heaven  !  the  idea  is  monstrous — the  thing  in- 
credible, if  they  had  not  stated  it  themselves  about 
themselves.  Who  that  reads  and  believes  such  a 
statement  can  be  willing  their  young  and  innocent 
daughters  should  be  followers  of  a  meeting  prover- 
bial for  their  familiar  and  social  habits,  where  they 
would  be  liable  to  associate  with  such  characters. 

We  do  not  know  but  a  part  of  the  charges  against 
her  may  be  true,  because  we  have  no  means  of 
positively  knowing  ;  some  of  them  we  know  cannot 
be  ;  for  instance,  we  know  she  could  not  have  been 
sinning  and  playing  the  hypocrite  in  four  different 
places  at  once,  as  is  found  to  have  been  stated  in 
one  part  of  the  trial.  She  could  not  have  been  at 
Dover,  Great  Falls,  Lowell  and  Waltham,  at  one 
and  the  same  time,  without  possessing  one  of  the 
attributes  of  omnipotence — that  of  ubiquity. 

We  scarcely  think  she  could  have  been  the  wri- 
ter of  these  letters,  which  we  know  she  was,  if  as 
vile  as  represented.  Oh  exclaims  the  scoffer  who 
reads  them,  and  believes  the  account  given  of 
her  at  the  trial,  what  a  caricature  they  are  upon 
talking,  canting,  whining  christians.  But  to  those 
who  hope  better  things,  what  a  different  aspect  will 
they  wear.  To  those  who  believe  that  "out  of  the 
abundance  of  the  heart  the  mouth  speaketh,"  they 
will  not  appear  like  hypocrisy.  Ignorant  and  en- 
thusiastic we  allow  her  to  have  been.  Ignorant  as 
she  was  though,  we  observe  her  letters  are  much  bet- 
ter spelt  than  those  of  Avery  which  we  have  seen. 

We  are  sorry  to  say  that  what  we  have  stated  re- 
specting the  treatment  of  the  witnesses,  together 
xvith  much  more,  generally  known,  which  cur  limits 
IS  ill  not  permit  us  to  state,  goes  far  towards  contra^ 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.  157 

dieting  the  assertion  made  in  the  report  of  the  Con- 
ference, who  sat  upon  Avery's  last  examination,  viz. 
that  while  the  trial  was  pending  they  remained  per- 
fectly quiet,  not  even  undertaking  to  clear  their 
brother  from  any  of  the  ridiculous  and  exaggerated 
reports  daily  circulated  against  him,  or  to  contra- 
dicting their  reports.  It  is  apparent  it  was  no  time  to 
stand  up  in  his  defence  in  that  way — but  as  to  re- 
maining quiet,  it  will  be  seen  by  every  body  that 
they  were  as  busy  as  inoles,  all  the  time.  It  is 
amazing  that  Avery  should  not  have  had  the  po- 
liteness to  publish  a  card  afterwards  thanking  his 
reverend  brethren  generally,  for  it  would  have  been 
hard  to  have  particularized  names,  where  so  many 
deserved  the  meed  of  thanks,  for  their  great  exertions 
and  important  services  !  !  !  Have  the  proceedings 
of  these  reverend  gentlemen  resembled  those  of  a  re- 
ligious association  ?  Has  it  not  rather  looked  like  a 
combination  of  men  for  secular  and  political  purpose 
— a  league  offensive  and  defensive  ?  Has  it  appear- 
ed their  object  is  to  elicit  truth,  or  suppress  it  ?  How 
is  a  charge  against  one  of  them  treated  ?  Is  there 
a  candid  examination  of  facts  gone  into,  or  is  not 
every  movement  directed  to  break  down  the  charac- 
ter of  the  accuser  in  the  first  place,  or  to^invalidate 
his  testimony  some  way  or  other  1  Is  this  the  way 
to  come  to  truth  ? 

We  come  now  to  the  last  remark  except  one 
we  have  to  make  on  this  painful  subject,  viz.  the 
subject  of  those  letters  found  in  the  possession  of  S. 
M.  Cornell,  designated  as  the  yellow  letter,  the  pink 
letter,  and  the  white  one.  (The  original  letters  now 
in  the  custody  of  the  court,  have  been  kindly  and  po- 
litely submitted  to  our  inspection.)  The  view  of  the 
author  in  seeking  to  see  them  was  simply  to  ascer- 


158  FALL   RIVER. 

tain  for  a  certainty,  whether  the  deceased  had  any 
hand  in  them,  as  insisted  upon  by  the  friends  of  E. 
K.  Avery.  To  some  of  them,  honest,  though  prej- 
udiced people,  we  had  pledged  ourselves  if  possible  to 
obtain  a  sight  of  thera.  Having  been  employed  for 
many  days  in  transcribing  her  letters  into  this  woik, 
we  felt  perfectly  confident,  that  if  she  had  any  hand 
in  them  we  should  at  once  detect  it,  however  dis- 
guised. Among  the  papers  found  in  her  possession 
we*discovered  nothing  in  her  hand,  however,  except 
her  letter  to  Mr.  Bidwell,  and  the  slip  of  paper  con- 
taininjT  those  words — ''  If  I  am  missincr  "  &c.  The 
three  other  letters  were  written  by  one  person,  al- 
though the  pink  one  was  written  very  fine,  and  dis- 
guised to  make  it  resemble  a  woman's.  But  oh  when 
they  were  compared  with  the  acknowledged  letters 
of  Avery  to  Mr.  Bidwell,  Mr.  Drake,*  and  Mr.  Storrs, 
the  conviction  which  they  brought  to  my  mind  was 
absolutely  overwhelming.  We  thought  we  had  ful- 
ly believed  in  Avery's  guilt  before,  but  we  feel  we 
never  had,  until  then,  a  gush  of  feeling  which  we 
could  not  prevent,  choaking  utterance  for  some  mo-^ 
ments,  We  do  not  wonder  that  his  friend  Mr.  Bid- 
well  could  not  help  saying  that  one  of  them  evident- 
ly was  his  hand  writing.  That  one  of  them  was  the 
plainest,  but  they  all  discovered  one  common  hand, 
all  the  peculiaraties,  the  turn  of  the  letter,  the  dash 

♦The  methodist  minister  preaching  in  Portsmouth.  There  is 
something  worthy  of  notice  about  this  letter.  It  is  dated  the  22d, 
and  consequently  was  written  on  Saturday  after  the  murder,  and 
before  Avery  knew  that  he  was  suspected  of  it,  and  most  urgent- 
ly requests  Mr.  Drake  to  come  to  him  immediately,  and  without 
delay ;  to  come  horse  back  or  in  carriage,  or  any  way — and  all 
expenses  should  be  paid,  but  to  come  without  fail.  This  Mr.  Drake 
was  remarkably  busy  during  the  whole  trial.  Nothing  could  ex- 
ceed his  zeal  in  serving  the  cause. 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.  159 

Stops,  the  breaking  of  some  and  the  leaning  of  otherF, 
the  spelling — of  folding  and  sealing,  even  to  the 
most  minute  particulars,  was  exact  in  accordance, 
one  thing  too  as  judge ,  observed — was  very  con- 
vincing, "If  any  one  had  forged  these  letters  in- 
tending to  have  them  attributed  to  him,  would  they 
not  have  put  his  name,  or,  at  least  the  initials  of  it?" 
but  instead  of  that  they  were  signed  "  B.  H.  "  for 
Betsey  Hill,  probably,  though  it  seemed  the  writer 
tost  his  recollection  in  one  place,  where  he  says, 
*'  direct  your  letters  to  Betsey  Hills,  and  not  to  me." 
The  fact  is  it  was  confidently  anticipated  by  the 
author  of  these  letters,  they  would  never  come  to 
light,  she  had  been  directed  so  positively  to  burn 
them.  One  said,  however,  *'you  may  keep  the  let- 
ter till  I  come  and  bring  them  and  I  will  bring  mine." 
It  was  thought  no  doubt  she  had  them  with  her  in 
the  pocketbook  or  wallet  which  she  always  carried 
in  her  pocket,  and  in  which  she  had  generally  car— 
ried  these  letters.  It  was  stated  to  the  author  that 
when  found  the  pocketbook  was  not  about  her,  and 
that  from  that  day  to  this  it  has  never  been  discov- 
ered. It  is  amazing  this  circumstance  has  never 
been  commented  on  before,  for  if  true  undoubtedly 
the  author  of  those  letters,  whoever  he  was,  took  it 
from  her,  expe'^ting  it  contained  the  letters,  which 
it  seems  she  had  taken  out  and  put  in  her  bandbox. 
In  her  pocket  was  found  a  silver  pencil  case,  and 
some  other  trifles — we  have  forgotten  what — but  no 
pocketbook.  It  would  appear  singular,  if  we  did 
not  recollect  that  the  finding  of  the  vial  of  tansy 
oil  was  not  testified  to  in  Court,  or  much  said 
about  it  until  within  a  few  months  past,  although 
the  women  who  laid  her  out  and  found  it  among  her 


160  FALL  RIVER. 

things,  talked  about  it  at  the  time.  Mrs.  Nancy 
Durfee  testified  to  the  author  that  she  was  the  first 
person  who  saw  it  in  the  trunk,  where  it  lay  with  a 
teaspoon  beside  it,  and  that  from  the  quantity  she 
could  not  believe  it  to  be  oil  of  tansy — but  such  it 
afterwards  proved.  "VVe  believe  there  is  one  person 
who  knows  who  sold  this  vial.  Yv^e  have  ascertain- 
ed she  did  not  procure  it  herself  at  Fall  River,  nor 
carry  it  there  with  her.  There  is  a  peculiarity  about 
the  vial,  which  we  believe  would  cause  any  person 
who  sold  it  to  recognise  it  again. 

It  is  almost  equally  strange  so  little  should  have 
been  said  respecting  the  wounded  hand  of  the  pris- 
oner. At  the  time  of  the  murder  a  woman  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  place,  dreamed  that  the  murdered  girl 
appeared  to  her  and  told  her  that  the  person  who 
killed  her,  might  be  recognised  by  the  marks  of 
her  teeth  upon  his  hand,  for  that  during  the  strug- 
gle he  put  his  hand  over  her  mouth  to  stifle  her 
shrieks,  and  she  bit  it.  This  woman  determined 
to  see  the  prisoner,  and  know  whether  there  were 
any  such  marks  on  his  hand  or  not.  Whether  it 
Avas  owing  to  her  entreaties  or  not  we  cannot  say 
but  at  the  Bristol  examination  the  prisoner  was 
ordered  to  unglovc.  He  had  kept  one  glove  on, 
previous  to  this.  He  pulled  off  his  glove  and  his 
hand  was  found  to  be  wounded.  The  counsel  for 
the  government  wanted  a  physician  called  to  exam- 
ine it,  which  the  justices  who  sat  on  the  examina- 
tion declined  to  do,  when  Avery  offered  to  account 
for  the  wound  by  relating  the  manner  in  which  it 
was  done.  He  was  silenced  by  the  government  coun- 
sel, who  did  not  wish  to  hear  nis  story.  And  thus  the 
affair  of  the  wounded  hand  was  dropped. 

In  conclusion,   we   would  observe,   that  hov.ever 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.  161 

Strong  tlie  presumption  of  the  guilt  of  E.  K.  Avery 
may  be  on  the  public  mind,  we  fervently  hope  he 
may  remain  unmolested,  and  we  would  wish  unno- 
ticed. If  lie  is  guilty,  the  avenger  of  blood  is  behind 
him.  That  is  sufficient.  If  innocent,  he  ought 
not  to  preach.  Still,  silent  contempt  and  utter  neg- 
lect would  do  more  towards  putting  down  such  per- 
sons than  clamour.  Mobbings  never  ought  to  be 
known  in  a  civilized  community  ;  besides  that  they 
are  calculated  to  make  even  merited  chastisement 
appear  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  like  persecution. 
They  have  another  horrible  tendency,  which  is  to 
give  men  in  power  who  are  fond  of  the  exercise  of 
authority  a  pretext  for  the  most  shocking  severities. 
Those  who  set  out  to  inflict  chastisement  in  this 
way  generally  get  the  worst  of  it  before  it  is  over. 
Besides,  who  knows  that  iii  this  case  that  is  not  the 
very  point  aimed  at  ?  Who  knows  that  the  outrage- 
ous insult  of  thrusting  this  man  into  the  pulpit  in 
every  place  where  he  is  most  obnoxious  is  not  in- 
tended to  produce  this  very  result?  Should  a  meet- 
ing-house be  pulled  down,  or  preacher  torn  from  the 
pulpit,  who  knows  what  fearful  war  cry  might  be 
raised.  There  is  nothing;  whets  thesword  like  false 
zeal.  The  battles  of  ifhe  Cavaliers  and  Round 
Heads  might  be  fought  over  again  in  our  country, 
experience  has  once  demonstrated  there  is  no  quarter 
to  be  expected  from  men  who  would  march  to  bat- 
tle singing  psalms,  and  wield  the  battle  axe  with  the 
covenant  in  their  bosoms.  From  all  such  contests 
may  the  God  of  peace  deliver  us. 


162  FALL   RIVER. 

To  retura  to  Fall  River,  that  place  from  which 
sin  and  sorrow  and  contention  have  kept  us  away 
so  long  in  story.  Though  its  natural  beauties,  as 
.we  observed  before,  are  obscured  by  improvements, 
it  is,  and  ever  will  be,  beautiful  in  situation.  The 
waters  of  Mount  Hope  bay  still  roll  on  in  their  nat- 
ural course. 

The  waves  still  wash  the  peaceful  shores  around 
Where  the  poor  wanderer  a  grave  has  found. 

Internal  improvement  is  going  on,  and  wealth 
flowing  in.  But  there  is  a  change  there — and  oh, 
how  great  a  one !  There  are  two  classes  of  people 
who  once  lived  in  friendly  intercourse,  between 
whom,  now,  nothing  but  frozen  civilities  are  ex- 
changed. The  great  body  of  the  inhabitants  must 
feel,  as  every  one  of  our  republican  states  would 
have  felt,  if  opposition  had  been  enabled  to  palm 
upon  us  the  curse  of  a  peqple,  within  our  own  bor- 
ders, having  a  seperate  and  independent  govern- 
ment within  themselves.  Qan  nothing  be  done  to 
heal  the  breach  ?  Ghildren^of  the  same  heavenly 
Father,  redeemed  by  the  same  power,  can  no  com- 
promise be  effected?  Alas!  we  fear  not.  Fanati- 
cism, aided  by  self-will  anji  obstinacy,  has  drawn 
the  sword  and  thrown  aw^  the  scabbard.  The 
minority  have  nailed  the  flag  to  the  mast,  and  are 
determined  to  surrender  only  with  life.  Ah  \  fool- 
ish and  perverse  generation ;  something  may  yet 
happen,  to  convince  you  of  your  error :  but  your 
conviction  may  come  a  day  too  late.  How  mourn- 
ful it  is  to  see  people,  who  once  exchanged  a  friend- 
ly greeting  whenever  they  met,  even  in  the   streets. 


AN  AUTHENTIC  NARRATIVE.        1G3 

with  a  cordial  **good  morning,"  or  a  friendly  ahake 
of  the  hand^  now  pass  each  other  without  any  salu- 
tation, and  perhaps  even  with  looks  of  coldness  and 
contempt,  of  estrangement  and  aversion. 

Yet  the  hospitable  and  benevolent  inhabitants  of 
Fail  River,  as  a  body,  are  not  in  fiiult  in  this  case  ; 
they  have  only  sought  to  do  their  duty  towards  a 
helpless  stranger  who  perished  by  lawless  violence 
within  their  precincts.  And  for  this,  their  reward 
shall  be  the  eternal  hatred  of  one  particular  class 
of  people,  and  the  esteem  of  every  honest,  candid 
and  impartial  person. 

If  Fall  River  was  once  an  object  of  interest  to  tho 
traveller,  it  is  doubly  so  now,  from  the  associations 
connected  with  it.  For  months  after  the  tragical 
affair  detailed  in  the  preceding  pages,  it  formed  the 
entire  topic  of  conversation  in  every  steam  boat  that 
plied  the  river ;  though  time  has  effected  a  chango 
in  this  respect,  yet  ever  as  the  boat  nears  the  bay 
is  the  stranger  heard  to  enquire  the  situation  of  Gif- 
ford's  house,  of  the  road  to  the  ferry,  of  Howland's 
bridge,  and  of  Durfee's  farm.  It  is  in  vain  for  the 
peace  professing  part  of  the  community  to  say  **  it 
is  time  this  subject  was  dropped — this  excitement 
ceased."  To  get  out  of  the  way  of  it  we  must  go  as 
a  certain  writer  says,  "  where  a  hay  stack  was  never 
heard  of" 


APPENDIX. 


So  much  has  been  said  of  late  of  Camp  Meetings, 
and  such  intense  curiosity  excited  on  the  subject, 
that  the  author  of  these  sheets  feels  called  upon  to 
give  a  history  of  one  of  which  she  was  an  eye  and 
ear  witness,  i.  e.  for  the  time  she  passed  there.  The 
meeting  was  held  in  R.  I.  and  was  I  should  say 
some  ten  or  twelve  years  ago.  It  is  said  that  the 
regulations  of  those  places  have  been  much  more 
strict  of  late  years,  and  that  the  disorders  in  the  im- 
mediate vicinity  of  a  Camp  have  lessened  since. 
That  their  moral  tendency  is  better  than  it  was  be- 
fore is  however  doubtful.  Witness  the  affair  of  the 
unfortunate  girl  who  perished  at  the  stackyard. — 
That  her  latest  misfortune  was  occasioned  by  her 
attendance  th^re,  cannot  be  doubted.  The  testi- 
mony of  her  sister  and  one  other  respectable  female 
fully  proves  that;  even  by  the  testimony  of  her  ene- 
mies it  appears  she  had  made  resolutions  of  amend- 
ment, which  the  temptations  and  facilities  of  a  Camp 
Meeting  overcame.  In  fact  it  is  asserted  by  many 
that  no  certain  proof  exists  that  her  first  criminal 
offence  was  not  perpetrated  there  :  that  might  have 
been  the  beginning — the  end  no  one  disputes  w^as 
death.  Nothing  can  be  more  imposing  than  the 
first  view  of  a  camp,  and  a  superficial  observer,  a 
person  who  entered  and  just  walked  through,  or 
was  so  fortunate  as  to  be  seated  in  some  safe  place 
while  listening  to  a  sermon  or  a  prayer,  might  see 
no  harm  in  one.     But  we  think  no  person  could  pass 


166  APPENDIX. 

much  time  in  one,  if  a  person  of  any  observation  and 
not  blinded  by  fanaticism,   without  deprecating  the 
practice.     I  am  fully  aware  I  shall  make  no  friends 
by  an  exposure  of  all  I  saw  and  heard  there,   but  I 
hope  no  enemies.     I  hope,  fervently  hope,  that  no 
order  of  men  have  become  so  depraved,   as  to  hate 
or  persecute  any  one  who  dares  to  avow  a  difference 
of  opinion,  or  for    speaking  the  truth,   however  re- 
pugnant to  their  own  views  or  feelings.     Should  it 
be  asked,  where  has  this  history  been  all  this  time  1 
I  answer,  safe  locked  up  in  my  desk.     Why   has  it 
never  been  published  before  ?  because  it  has  never 
been  called  for  :  the  occasion  which  has  called  it 
forth  has  never  been  so  pressing.     Men's  eyes  are 
now  partially  open  to  the  great  evils  of  fanaticism 
generally,  and  of  Camp-Meetings  in  particular  ;  and 
every  thing  known  on  that  subject  ought  to  come 
out.      The  following    diary    or    memorandum,    or 
whatever  it  may  be  called,  was  taken  at  the  time, 
except  a  very  little  added  from  memory.     Were  it 
necessary,  I  could  give  the  names  of  many  of  the 
characters  mentioned  :  but  it  is  not  with  a  view  of 
injuring  individuals,  or  dragging  before  the  public 
names  of  persons  known  only  for  their  modesty  and 
domestic  virtues,  that  this  is  brought    before    the 
world  ;  but  with  the  hope  that  it  may  have  a  tenden- 
cy to  assist  in  putting  down  a  great  evil,  a  sore  afflic- 
tion in  the  land,  a   pestilence  walking   in  darkness, 
an  enormity  that  calls  loudly  for  the  strong  arm  of 
the  law,  in  the  opinion  of  many  good  judges.     A 
thing  much  more  to    be  dreaded    than    even  the- 
atrical   entertainments,    inasmuch  as  it   goes  un- 
der the  name  of  religion  ;  whereas  the    former  is 
called  by  all  sorts  of  evil  names  that  can  serve  to 
warn  people.     When  people  go  to  the  theatre  they 


APPENDIX.  167 

know  where  they  are  going.  They  go  with 
their  eyes  open.  They  know  it  is  at  best  but*  a 
profane  entertainment,  and  they  go  against  the 
warnings  of  the  pious  of  all  denominations.  But 
when  they  go  to  a  Camp  ground,  they  do  not 
know  of  the  dangers  that  lurk  there  and  menace 
them  at  every  step :  they  do  not  know  who  or 
what  mingles  with  the  motley  assembly  that  sur- 
rounds them.  They  are  told  that  by  going  there 
they  may  find  religion,  (a  most  absurd  phrase  by 
the  way)  as  though  religion  could  only  be  imbibed 
in  certain  places  and  situations.  They  are  taught 
that  the  spirit  of  God,  whose  still  small  whispers 
may  be  heard  at  all  times  when  the  soul  is  dis- 
posed to  retire  within  itself  and  listen  to  its  hea- 
venly breathings,  that  the  spirit  of  God  is  in  a  very 
peculiar  manner  dispensed  at  those  scenes  of  noise 
and  confusion,  even  without  measure,  if  we  may 
credit  their  often  uttered  expressions  of  "  I'm  full," 
"I'm  running  over,"  &/C.  Many  really  honest  people 
are  induced  by  the  hope  of  being  converted  there, 
without  any  trouble  of  their  own,  to  attend  fre- 
quently, to  the  great  detriment  of  their  families 
who  too  often  are  suffering  for  their  care  at  home. 
The  feelings  of  the  really  pure  and  pious  and 
intellectual  among  these  assemblies  must  often  be 
outraged — though    they    endure    it  thinking    they 

are  doinor  God  service,  and  it  must  be  right  be- 

.  .  .  . 

cause  their  councils  permit  or  decree  it. 

Mistaken  beings,  there  is  a  way  that  seemeth 
right  to  a  man,  but  the  end  thereof  is  death.  I 
am  fully  aware  of  all  the  arguments  made  use  of 
to  defend  Camp-Meetings — but  they  are  futile  ;  and 
fully  aware  as  will  be  seen  by  this  of  their  im- 
posing effect  at  first  sight. 


168 


APPENDIX. 


Who  can  contend  that  this  free  intermingling  of 
Bociety  is  not  dangerous,  this  tumbling  and  falling 
about  not  indecent.  That  the  familiar  habit  of  life 
practised  there  is  not  full  of  temptation  ;  to  prove  this 
would  be  to  prove  that  the  persons  who  frequent 
them  are  not  made  of  flesh  and  blood,  a  thing  that 
abundantly  proves  itself. 

^  Who  can  prevent  the  neighborhood  of  a  Camp 
Meeting  from   swarming  with  drunkards  and  gam- 
blers, and  horse  jockies  and  pickpockets,  and  of- 
fenders of  every  other  description,   who  go   about 
seeking  whom   they  may  devour.     It  is   said  now,, 
that  "  bad  people  are  driven  oft'  the  ground,"  but  if 
so  where  do  they  go  to  ?  it  is  certain  that  hack  loads 
and  wagon  loads  of  very  bad  people  are  always  seen 
ibllowing  a  Camp  Meeting  as  regular  as  to  a  field  of 
buttle.    If  it  is  purposely  to  call  sinners  to  repentance 
tliat    these  out  door  meetings  are  held,  why  not 
have  a  place  assigned  them,  where  they  may  hear 
and  be  profited  by  the  preaching  of  the  word — and 
kept  in  sight  that  people  may  know  what  they  are 
about,  rather  than  be  driven  into  the  bushes  to  pol- 
lute the  place  with  all   sorts  of  enormities.     I  am 
not  however  contending  for  their  admission  at  all,  if 
their  presence  could  be  avoided,  for  in  my  opinion 
the  best  place  to  preach  to  these  people  is  at  home, 
and  admire  the   plan  of  domestic  missionaries  to 
seek  out  the  abodes  of  vice.     JBut  if  the  vilest  sin- 
ners are  not  to  be  benefitted  by  these  meetings  why 
not  hold  them  in  places  of  worship  where  no  facili- 
ties for  crime  exist  ? 

But  leaving  the  out-door  evils  of  Camp  Meetings 
entirely  out  of  the  question,  it  still  remains  to  be 
asked,  are  their  in-door  evils  not  to  be  dreaded?  is 
eheir  effect  upon  the  religious  society  who  frequent 


APPENDIX.  169 

ihem  less  pernicious  ?  are  not  habits  of  idleness  and 
dissipation  (spiritual  dissipation  though  it  be)  pro- 
moted by  it  ?  among  fanatics  especially — among 
those  whose  business  is  at  home — among  those  whose 
feet  ought  to  abide  in  their  own  house?  If  we  were 
like  the  wandering  Arabs  or  Tartars  wiiose  home  is 
in  the  fields,  in  every  green  spot  whereon  they 
may  chance  to  light,  it  would  be  a  different  affair, 
but  in  a  country  like  ours  where  domestic  industry 
and  sobriety  are  of  such  importance,  wandering,  idle 
habits  among  females  arc  absolutely  ruinous.  Add 
to  this  the  exposure  of  health.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  lives  of  many  delicate  females  have 
been  sacrificed  to  the  absurd  custom  of  sleeping  on 
the  gjround,  with  no  covering  but  a  tent  to  those 
who  have  been  accustomed  to  the  walls  of  a  house. 
The  want  of  rest,  of  sleep,  which  all  who  attend 
these  meetings  must  suffer  more  or  less,  must  be 
great.  And  last  but  not  least,  the  low  and  dishon- 
oring thoughts  of  religion  which  the  constant  hear- 
ing of  such  familiarity  with  Deity  must  unavoidably 
create.  Why  it  is  impossible  people  can  know  what 
they  are  saying,  when  they  use  such  expressions  as 
are  frequently  used  at  these  places.  They  frequent- 
ly ^peak  of  the  Almighty,  and  speak  to  him  too,  as 
though  he  were  an  equal,  and  even  an  inferior;  for 
people  very  seldom  address  an  equal  in  the  impera- 
tive. 

We  have  one  thing  to  hope,  however,  if  people 
will  not  submit  to  be  reasoned  with  ;  that  as  the  light 
of  science  breaks  upon  their  minds,  bigotry,  super- 
stition and  fanaticism  will  vanish.  Unless,  indeed, 
it  be  a  combination  for  civil  purposes,  as  in  the  case 
of  the  Romish  Church,  where,  as  her  clergy  became 
more  enlightened,  they  only  became  more  accom- 


170  APPENDIX. 

plished  to  do  evil ;  and  in  proportion  to  their  knowl- 
edge, so  did  their  tyranny,  and  extortion,  and  op- 
pression of  their  simple  hearers,  increase. 

It  is  possible  that  some  very  hard  thoughts  and 
still  harder  speeches  may  be  the  reward  of  the  wri- 
ter from  those  who  differ  in  opinion,  but  why  1 
How  many  have  we  heard  of  the  Methodist  denom- 
ination inveighing  against  Masonry — not  because 
Masonry  ever  did  them  any  injury,  but  merely  be- 
cause it  had  become  so  obnoxious  to  so  large  a  pro- 
portion of  the  people — and  contending  that  Masons 
ought  to  give  up  their  charters,  if  it  was  only  in 
co.mgliance  with  public  prejudice  and  to  restore 
general  harmony.  This  was  certainly  sound  and 
correct  reasoning :  but  it  applies  equally  well  to 
Camp  Meetings,  and  to  the  case  of  E.  K.  Avery. 


Extracted  from  a  Journal  of  a  Camp  Meeting,  held 
in  SmitJiJidd,  R.  I. 

The  long  expected  time  at  length  arrived,  the 
meeting  was  to  be  held  in  an  extensive  wood  about 
nine  miles  from  the  town  of several  very  respec- 
table young  ladies  had  agreed  to  stay  at  a  house 
within  two  miles  of  the  meeting,  where  they  could 
ride  backwards  and  forwards  as  often  as  they  chose 
through  its  continuance.  The  weather  was  exces- 
sively warm  and  the  season  unusually  dry,  and  from 
dust  and  heat,  most  uncomfortable  riding.  For  my 
own  part  I  felt  determined  to  endure  all  hardships 
rather  than  be  disappointed  in  this  opportunity  of 
seeing  and  hearing.  So  many  stories  had  been  told 
me  of  Camp  Meetings,  and  such  various  and  con- 
tradictory ones,  that  I  felt  determined  to  sec  and 


APPENDIX.  171 

hear  for  myself.  The  meetings  had  not  commenced 
uponour  ariival,  but  the  Camp  was  said  to  be  in  or- 
der, and  so  great  was  our  impatience  to  see  it,  that 
we  accepted  of  a  ride  with  a  com()any  of  friends 
who  were  going  from  the  house  where  we  staid,  and 
proceeded  to  the  camp  ground. 

There  was  an  avenue  opened  through  the  wood 
from  the  road  to  the  camp,  perhaps  of  about  a  quar- 
ter of  a  mile  in  length,  but  as  it  had  just  been  clear- 
ed, was  exceedingly  dangerous  riding.  However, 
we  arrived  safe  at  the  entrance,  and  dismounting, 
passed  the  barrier,  and  found  ourselves  within  the 
circle  of  the  camp.  I  was  never  more  amazed  than 
by  the  scene  before  me.  Tt  was  a  beautiful  spot  in 
a  pine  wood.  The  trees  were  felled  here  and  there 
with  a  sufficiency  left  for  shade,  and  had  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  fine  grove  within  an  impenetrable 
wood.  The  spot  prepared  was  entirely  round  in 
shape,  and  its  circumference  I  do  not  know,  but  it 
was  quite  extensive.  The  setting  sun  lent  its  last 
bright  beams  to  the  scene,  while  the  snowy  tents 
stretched  far  and  wide,  discovered  many  happy  faces 
peeping  from  beneath  their  white  curtains.  Here 
and  there  an  old  man  or  woman  was  setting  in  the 
door  enjoying  the  refreshing  odour  from  the  pines, 
or  rapt  in  contemplation  of  the  scene  before  them, 
upon  which  they  appeared  to  gaze  with  much  plea- 
sure. 

I  was  lost  in  admiration  :  a  holy  calm  took  pos- 
session of  my  soul ;  I  thought  of  the  camp  of  Israel 
— of  Abraham  sitting  in  his  tent  door  in  the  cool  of 
the  day — of  the  patriarchs  of  old,  who,  as  the  in- 
spired historian  informs  us,  were  "  plain  men  dwell- 
ing in  tents."  My  imagination  ran  through  the 
whole  scene  of  sacred  history,  from  Adam  d^"''^  "» 


172  APPENDIX. 

Moses — the  plains  of  Mamre — the  desert  of  Sinai 
was  before  me — I  heard  in  imagination  "  the  trump 
of  God,  and  witnessed  the  proclamation  of  the  law." 
In  short  it  was  some  time  before  I  could  descend  to 
earth  and  seriously  consider  the  object  that  brought 
me  there. 

The  plain  dress  of  the  people  was  very  pleasant 
to  me,  and  about  the  place  there  was  an  air  of  quiet, 
inviting  to  heavenly  contemplation.  And  is  this,  I 
asked,  a  Camp  Meeting?  I  do  not  believe  a  word 
about  the  confusion.  Ill  natured  world  that  it  is, 
what  can  be  more  proper  than  to  retire  into  the  de- 
sert to  pray  ?  What  more  likely  to  keep  in  mind 
that  we  are  strangers  and  pilgrims  here,  than  to  be- 
come the  inhabitant  of  a  tent  for  a  certain  season  ? 
They  came  doubtless  to  recollect  that  "here  we 
have  no  continuing  city — to  remember  that  we  have 
no  certain  habitation  but  that  house  eternal  in  the 
heavens,  whose  builder  and  maker  is  God."  And 
here  too,  doubtless,  they  came  to  mourn  for  the  sins 
that  made  us  pilgrims  and  exiles  in  a  world  that  but 
for  our  disobedience  would  still  have  been  man's 
Paradise.  In  this  state  of  exile,  of  humiliation,  they 
eat  their  bread  with  tears,  and  mingle  their  drink 
with  weeping."  What  can  be  more  useful?  what 
more  proper  ?  what  more  salutary  ?  Surely  my  God 
must  look  with  complacency  upon  a  scene  like  this. 

With  a  heart  too  full  for  conversation,  1  walked 
around  the  ground.  My  companions  too  were  not 
very  loquacious.  I  imagine  the  scene  struck  them 
something  as  it  did  me,  except  one  who  was  not  so 
ignorant  as  myself  To  her  I  made  the  remark, 
"  it  is  very  quiet  here."  She  answered,  "  the  meet- 
ings have  not  began." 

Upon  re-entering  the  avenue  our  wagon  had  to 


APPENDIX.  173 

turn  out  often  for  companies  of  rude  young  men, 
who,  thougli  the  pnss  was  so  extremely  dangerous, 
drove  Jehu-like,  unmindful  of  stumps  or  stpnes,  and 
appeared  in  a  higli  frolic.  I  inquired  the  meaning 
of  this.  The  landlord's  son  who  was  driving  us, 
answered,  "They  were  professional  gamblers  and 
horse  jockies,  who  followed  a  Camp  Meeting  as  reg- 
ularly as  crows  aud  vultures  followed  an  army."  I 
was  amazed,  but  I  soon  forgot  the  circumstance  and 
relapsed  into  my  former  pleasing  reverie. 

Tuesday,  we  rode  into  the  camp  ground  immedi- 
ately after  breakfast.  Upon  arriving  in  sight  of  the 
tents,  I  remarked  to  one  of  my  companions,  we  had 
never  seen  an  army  encamped,  and  I  hoped  we 
never  might,  but  this  must  resemble  it  in  appearance 
except  in  warlike  preparations.  But  here,  exclaim- 
ed I  with  enthusiasm,  they  wage  a  holy  war.  These 
are  engaged  in  a  warfare  that  must  never  end,  and 
their  vigilance  must  exceed  that  of  those  whose  sen- 
tence is  death  for  slumbering  at  their  post.  Their 
foes  are  from  within  as  well  as  from  without ;  but 
they  fight  under  a  powerful  leader,  and  be  their  foes 
ever  so  numerous,  the  banner  of  the  cross  will  final- 
ly prevail. 

Under  the  impression  of  such  feelings,  I  entered 
the  circle  ready  to  join  the  people  in  their  holy  work. 
The  ground  is  Vvhat  is  called  an  inclined  plane,  that 
is  of  rather  gradual  descent,  and  towards  the  lower 
part  was  erected  a  small  platform,  intended  for  the 
pulpit,  called  familiarly  "  the  preacher's  stand."  A 
man  was  standing  there  when  we  entered  and  loud- 
ly calling  upon  the  people  to  repent :  there  was  little 
sense  or  connection  in  what  he  said,  but  he  seemed 
to  be  very  earnest  and  sincere,  and  had  I  think,  the 
Toudest  \'oic3  I  dver  remember  to  have  heard,  but 


174  APPENDIX. 

his  exertions  seemed  thrown  away,  for  except  a  stroll- 
ing party  occasionally  halted  near  him,  he  had  no 
auditors.  We  agreed  to  take  a  walk  round  and  see 
what  had  become  of  the  good  people.  They  were 
mostly  in  their  tents,  cooking  and  eating,  and  in 
another  apartment  (for  they  were  usually  divided 
into  two  or  three)  reclining  on  the  straw — men  and 
women  promiscuously  chatting  and  laughing,  and 
sometimes'  casting  a  furtive  glance  towards  the 
preacher,  whose  extreme  earnestness  apparently  ex- 
cited little  interest.  After  a  time  he  was  succeeded 
by  another,  equally  vehement ;  and  one  old  man 
began  to  cry  aloud  for  mercy,  which  seemed  to  en- 
courage them  very  much.  Being  fatigued,  we  re- 
tired to  one  of  the  tents  where  we  had  some  acquaint- 
ance, to  rest.  They  informed  us  that  none  of  their 
best  speakers  had  appeared  yet,  and  that  the  even- 
ing was  the  time  for  powerful  meetings.  Towards 
noon,  we  observed  people  gathering  round  one  of 
the  tents,  and  following  the  multitude  we  entered. 

Curiosity  had  been  excited  by  the  falling  of  a 
young  woman  on  the  ground  near  the  stand.  She 
had  been  conveyed  into  this  tent,  and  was  now  ly- 
ing on  the  straw,  while  the  people  who  brought  her 
returned  to  the  stand,  and  seemed  to  take  no  further 
thought  of  her.  We  approached  the  young  woman 
and  felt  her  pulse,  and  believing  she  was  in  a  hys- 
teric fit,  and  that  it  would  be  highly  injurious  to  let 
her  remain  so  any  time,  begged  permission  to  em- 
ploy restoratives  ;  but  to  all  applications  for  then?, 
and  remonstrances,  they  turned  a  deaf  ear.  The 
people  within  smiled  scornfully  at  my  ignorance — 
told  me  she  was  happy  and  it  would  be  a  sin  to  re- 
vive her  if  they  could.  She  was  very  pale  and  her 
pulse  very  low  ;  but  upon  my  persisting  in  rubbing 


APPENDIX.  175 

hex  and  calling  for  restoratives,  backed  as  I  was  by 
a  skillful  physician  who  now  entered  the  tent,  and 
was  remonstrating  in  not  very  gentle  terms  upon  tri-^ 
fling  thus  with  human  life,  they  ordered  us  out  of 
the  tent,  and  fastened  down  the  curtain,  which  ex- 
cluded every  breath  of  air,  in  an  intense  hot  day. 
with  orders  for  no  one  to  disturb  her  until  the  Lord 
chose  to  dissolve  her  trance. 

From  this  spectacle  we  retreated  towards  the  Af- 
rican tent,  which  was  filled  with  coloured  people, 
but  there  was  so  much  talking  there  at  once,  and 
they  were  so  thick,  we  were  obliged  to  pass  on.  A 
very  old  man  now  took  his  place  on  the  stand,  whoso 
hoary  head  and  stooping  gait  proclaimed  that  time 
with  him  would  soon  cease  to  be.  I  observed  to  the 
young  lady  who  had  my  arm,  that  **this  old  man 
who  stands  upon  the  borders  of  eternity,  will  cer- 
tainly feel  what  he  says,"  and  we  descended  again 
to  the  stand. 

He  commenced  his  discourse  by  saying — "  he 
was  a  very  old  fashioned  Methodist,  and  he  should 
not  be  put  out  if  they  should  groan,  or  say  amen  or 
hallelujah — that  he  had  seen  nothing  that  looked 
like  zeal  among  them  yet — no  efforts  to  take  the 
kingdom  by  force,"  &c.  fc-c. — and  he  exhorted 
them  with  a  degree  of  violence,  which  soon  exhaust- 
ed him  and  compelled  him  to  yield  the  pulpit,  i.  e. 
the  stand,  to  another.  It  had  seemed  the  preach- 
er's object  in  this  discourse  to  bring  his  audience  to 
a  certain  temperature,  and  I  was  lost  in  reflection, 
thinking  if  the  man  could  mean  that  the  Lord  was 
not  worshipped  with  acceptance  where  he  was  wor- 
shipped in  silence.  But  i  had  little  time  for  reflec- 
tion on  the  subject,  for  a  very  devout  looking  person 
now  advanced   and   requested   his   brethren  to  join 


176  APPENDIX. 

him  in  prayer  for  the  multitude.  Being  hemmed  in 
in  such  a  manner  it  was  impossible  for  many  of  us 
to  kneel,  and  many  doubtless  were  afraid  to.  It  is 
true  if  we  had  been  engaged  just  as  we  ought  to 
have  been,  we  should  not  have  seen  what  we  did 
see.  But  this  v/as  impossible  without  absolute  dan- 
ger to  ourselves.  We  had  just  been  vv^arned  not  on- 
ly against  pickpocke'/S,  but  told  women  were  often 
grossly  insulted  there,  even  in  the  thickest  of  the 
camp.  Our  eyes  were  therefore  about  us,  and  sev- 
eral young  ladies  afterwards  told  us  that  whenever 
they  closed  their  eyes,  and  tried  to  engage  in  pray- 
er, they  were  aroused  by  some  of  the  men  pressing 
so  near,  they  could  almost  feel  the  pulsation  of  their 
hearts,  and  sometimes  press  their  arms,  &lc,. 

But  our  greatest  astonishment  was  to  see  the 
Methodists  themselves  wandering  about  in  all  direc- 
tions, and  some  that  were  kneeling  near  us  did  not 
in  the  least  appear  to  be  engaged  in  what  they  were 
professedly  about.  One  young  woman,  who  knelt  by 
our  side,  was  busily  employed  in  trying  to  fit  a  pieco 
of  bark  to  a  log,  with  a  countenance  that  expressed 
anything  but  devotion.  One  of  our  companions, 
who  was  watching  her,  burst  into  a  violent  fit  of 
laughter,  which  she  seemed  unable  to  restrain,  al- 
though we  gave  her  very  severe  looks  and  shook  our 
heads  at  her.  She  was  not  a  professor  of  religion, 
though  a  most  amiable  person  and  a  sincere  well 
wisher  to  the  cause ;  and  she  appeared  to  be  very 
much  mortified  upon  being  told  of  it  afterwards, 
though  she  assured  us,  with  tears  in  her  eyes,  that 
if  her  existence  had  depended  upon  her  suppressing 
it,  she  could  not  have  done  so. 

The  excessive  heat  and  fatigue  drove  us  back  to 
our  lodgings  at  noon  ;   but  towards   night    we  rode 


APPENDIX.  177 

again  to  the  Camp.  We  observed,  as  we  came  near 
the  wood,  the  recent  erection  of  stalls  to  sell  liquors 
and  refreshments  ;  and  around  many  were  congrega- 
ted people  notorious  for  dissolute  morals  and  dis- 
graceful conduct.  The  wood  appeared  to  be  swarm- 
ing with  people  of  all  descriptions,  and  it  looked  as 
though  it  might  be  extremely  hazardous  for  any  one 
to  venture  there  alone  and  on  foot. 

The  first  object  that  met  our  eyes  upon  coming' 
within  the  barrier  was  a  young  woman  of  extreme 
beauty,  who  was  staggering  through  the  Camp,  with 
her  clothes  torn  and  her  locks  dishevelled,  wringing- 
her  hands  and  mourning  that  the  people  were  not 
more  engaged.  She  was  a  girl  of  about  middling- 
height,  rather  fat,  with  large,  languishing  black 
eyes,  and  a  profusion  of  raven  hair  which  floated  on 
her  shoulders  and  reached  below  her  waist,  with 
the  fairest  complexion  that  could  be  imagined.  She 
appeared  to  excite  great  attention  wherever  she  mo- 
ved through  the  crowd.  We  observed,  as  she  pass- 
ed along,  that  the  young  men  exchanged  winks  and 
jogged  each  others  elbows.  We  subsequently  saw 
the  same  young  woman  lying  in  a  tent,  apparently 
insensible,  i.  e.  in  a  perfect  state  of  happiness,  as 
they  assured  us.  There  was  a  great  deal  of  joggling, 
pinching  and  looking  under  bonnets,  which  was 
extremely  annoying.  We  met  a  young  lady  from 
our  town,  who  showed  us  her  arms  pinched  black 
and  blue  by  she  could  not  tell  who,  while  she  was 
listening  to  the  preaching  of  a  woman  at  the  stand. 
She  was  quite  enraged  about  it,  and  protested  she 
would  get  home  as  soon  as  she  could  get  her  party 
to  go,  and  that  no  persuasion  should  induce  her  to 
come  again.  Her  arm  really  appeared  in  a  swollen, 
bad  state.     She  was  a   woman  of  very  correct  de- 


i*I8  APPENDIX. 

portrrK^nt,  and  the  conviction  that  no  improprietj 
on  her  part  could  have  been  the  provocation  to  insult, 
rendered  the  circumstance  rather  alarming;  and  we 
resolved  to  keep  very  near  our  friends  and  return 
-liome  at  an  early  hour :  though  various  persons  of 
ithe  meeting  tried  to  prevail  on  us  to  stay,  saying 
"'.the  work  of  the  spirit  was  much  more  powerful  a^ 
:*.eT  dark"  Th -^re  appeared  to  be  a  great  deal  of 
uncivil  amusernent  going  on,  not  only  in  a  sly  way, 
in  the  Camp,  but  throughout  the  ground.  The  nar- 
row, dark  a. venue  was  exceedingly  hard  to  pass  ;  dis- 
solute and  drunken  people  were  frequently  in  the 
rear  of  the  carriages,  swearing  and  talking  in  the 
most  profane  and  indecent  manner.  Upon  retiring 
-for  the  night,  I  had  a  most  serious  time  of  self-exam- 
ination whether  it  was  right  to  go  again ;  but  the 
desire  to  know  the  extent  of  the  evil  or  good  prevail- 
ed, and  I  resolved  to  see  it  out,  as  the  phrase  is. 
Wednesday,  however,  1  did  not  go  at  all,  being  con- 
fined with  a  violent  head-ache.  There  was  no  rest 
in  the  inn;  constant  quarrelling  in  the  road;  the  men 
•^ery  profane,  talking  every  thing.  The  Landlord  of 
the  house  where  we  were,  a  very  quiet  man,  appear- 
ed exceedingly  annoye-l. 

In  the  course  of  the  day,  we  heard  often  from  the 
Camp,  It  waxed  warmer  there.  Many  were  struck 
down,  they  said,  with  conviction  of  their  sins,  throw- 
ing themselves  in  the  dirt  and  calling  loudly  for  mer- 
cy ;  and  many  more  '*  lost  their  strength  :"  the  state 
of  exhaustion  described  in  the  preceeding  pages. 
The  people  without,  we  were  informed,  became 
more  noisy  and  obstreperous.  '■'  Oceans  of  rum,"  as 
it  was  often  expressed,  were  drank  in  the  neigh- 
borhood. All  that  night  we  slept  but  little.  Some 
of  the  profane  lodgers,  on  the  other  side  of  the  build- 


APPENDIX.  179 

mg,  were  continually  singing  hallelujahs  and  shout- 
ing *'  Amen  !  Glory  ! '"'  &c.  It  was  in  vain  the  land- 
lord exerted  himself;  before  he  could  get  to  one 
room,  a  louder  call  from  the  other  end  of  the  build- 
ing would  draw  him  there,  untd  he  gave  the  matter 
up  in  despair,  and  sulfered  his  obstreperous  lodgers 
to  sing  tliemselves  to  sleep. 

Thursday  afternoon,  rode  again  to  the  Camp, 
saw  the  most  drunken  people  in  the  road  I  ever  saw 
on  any  other  occasion.  Many  of  them,  I  was  told, 
had  tamilies  at  home  destitute,  even  in  this  land  of 
plenty,  of  the  common  necessaries  of  life.  I  could 
not  help  groaning  in  spirit  all  the  v/ay,  which  was 
literally  perfumed  by  the  odour  of  the  spirit  which 
ihey  had  drank.  Of  course  they,  the  mob,  were  dread- 
fully impudent ;  not  to  us  to  be  sure — the  gentle- 
man who  always  carried  us  was  uncle  to  two  of  the 
ladies  of  our  party  and  well  known  in  that  part  of 
the  country ;  with  him,  therefore,  we  always  felt 
perfectly  safe.  But  he  told  us  he  had  to  dismount, 
the  day  before,  from  his  wagon,  to  rescue  some  fe- 
males irom  insult,  two  or  three  times  ;  and  that  the 
Methodists  had  sent  for  two  or  three  sheriffs  to 
come  and  keep  order. 

When  we  entered  the  Camp,  there  was  what 
they  called  a  powerful  preacher,  on  the  stand.  He 
was  exhorting  the  people  to  repentance  with  great 
vehemence  and  gesticulation.  The  bad  English  he 
used  provoked  many  a  smile  from  his  hearers,  while 
another  class  of  his  hearers  seemed  to  listen  with 
profound  attention,  and  expressed  their  approbation 
by  many  an  exclamation  of  delight,  accompanied 
with  groans  and  amens.  One  man  fell  down  near 
us  in  strong  convulsions  ;  the  crowd  pressed  around 
him,  but   the  brethren,   pushing  them  back,  drew 


180  APPENDIX. 

him  into  a  tent,  saying  he  was  "  full  of  the  spirit," 
&/C.  We  now  got  crowded  between  a  woman  of 
most  infamous  character  and  some  young  men,  who 
Were  holding  a  whispering  dialogue  over  our  shoul- 
ders : — astonishing  impudence !  We  removed  to- 
another  part  of  the  ground  as  soon  as  possible ;  and 
having  regained  pur  escort,  proceeded  to  a  bench 
nearrthe  upper  end  of  the  Camp.  Here,  seated  be- 
iieath  some  trees,  we  could  look  down  upon  the 
crawd,  though  out  of  its  immediate  vicinity.  Here, 
loo,  we  could  hear  most  of  what  the  preacher  said 
who  was  then  spealiing.  One  of  our  acquaintance 
now  advanced  from  one  of  the  tents,  and  informedii 
us  there  had  been  "quite  a  riot  there"  the  prece- 
ding evening,  but  that  there  was  "  no  danger  now, 
as  there  w'ere  several  officers  on  the  ground,  hired 
to  keep  the  peace."  But  there  was  no  solemnity 
now — all  was  hubbub  and  confusion.  A  sister 
came  up  and  asked  if  we  intended  to  stay  in  the 
evening,  saying  they  had  "  such  ])oiverfid  meetings 
in  the  evening,  it  was  heaven  below."  I  could  not , 
but  express  to  her  and  several  others,  that  I  was 
about  tired  of  it,  and  should  go  away  with  very 
ctrong  prejudices  against  Camp  Meetings.  They 
assured  me  it  was  only  because  I  had  not  seen 
enough  of  them,  and  that  if  I  should  remain  with 
them  one  evening,  they  doubted  not  my  preju- 
dices would  vanish  ;  and  that  I  should  witness  such 
a  display  of  the  power  of  God,  as  1  never  saw  before;" 
said  I  was  cold,  "  but  she  would  insure  me  I  should 
get  warmed,  if  I  would  only  attend  their  evening 
prayer  meetings."  I  told  her  it  was  not  possible 
for  me  to  stay  that  evening,  as  we  expected  the  wa- 
gon, to  carry  us  back,  before  sunset,  and  I  had  en- 
jgagcd  to  return  with   my   party ;  but  that  both  they 


APPENDIX.  181 

and  I  intended  to  pass  the  last  night  in  the  Camp, 
which  would  be  the  next,  as  we  understood  they 
kept  up  the  meetings  through  the  whole  of  the  last 
night,  and  we  were  determined,  having  heard  so 
much  of  their  evening  meetings,  to  be  present  one 
night;  and  if  there  was  any  good  to  be  obtained,  \o 
be  in  the  way  of  it.  She  appeared  to  be  much 
pleased,  and  we  separated.  Our  conveyance  now 
.arrived  for  us  and  we  departed  ;  again  past  the  dark 
avenue,  upon  which  the  shades  of  twilight  were  now 
last  gathering.  The  brutal  intoxication  and  pro- 
fanity visible  on  the  road  home  Mas  truly  shocking;, 
and  as  we  went  past  the  stalls,  the  thought  struck 
me,  that  these  buyers  and  sellers  were  after  all  per- 
haps the  smallest  sinners  on  the  ground  ;  that  they, 
who  were  the  means  of  bringing  this  tumultuous 
assemblage  together,  unless  there  was  some  redeem- 
ing merit  about  it  that  I  had  not  yet  discovered,  had 
much  to  answer  for.  Dismissing  such  thoughts 
however,  I  resolved  not  to  make  a  final  decision 
against  them,  until  I  had  witnessed  those  meetings 
upon  whose  influence  they  counted  so  much. 

This  evening  I  overheard  some  ladies,  (of  whom 
there  was  and  had  been,  a  respectable  number,  and 
a  very  respectable  company  at  the  inn,)  teazing  their 
husbands  to  carry  them  to  the  Camp.  Their  hus- 
bands positively  refused,  saying  it  was  not  a  proper 
place  for  females  in  the  evening,  and  that  they  could 
not  engage  to  protect  them  from  insult  while  passing 
through  the  wood  and  its  environs ;  that  they  them- 
selves should  0^0  but  becrfjed  the  females  to  remain 
contented  where  they  were.  Children  of  Eve  !  I 
heard  them  afterwards  resolving  at  all  hazards  to 
know  where  the  danger  lay,  and  threatening  if  their 
:husbands  went  without  them  to  hire  a  conveyance 


182  APPENDIX. 

and  go  by  themselves.  Whether  they  carried  their 
point  or  not  I  did  not  ascertain.  I  saw  them  all  de- 
part from  the  inn  in  company  together. 

A  number  of  young  men  now  repaired  to  the  inn, 
from  the  Camp,  to  get  supper,  intending  to  go  back 
again.  They  appeared  in  a  high  frolic,  but  one  of 
them  was  taken  alarmingly  ill.  Directly  after  he 
w'as  seized  with  a  bleeding  at  the  nose,  so  violent  aa 
to  induce  the  belief  that  it  proceeded  from  the  rupture 
of  a  blood  vessel.  Though  at  some  distance  from 
the  apartments  of  the  family,  the  ladies  all  volunteer-^ 
ed  to  his  assistance.  It  was  a  shocking  scene,  and 
with  the  greatest  difficulty  the  eifusion  of  blood  was 
stopped  by  the  variety  of  applications  used.  He- 
appeared  quite  grateful  for  our  kindness,  and  par- 
ticularly to  the  landlord,  who  immediately  after  had 
him  carried  to  a  cool  room  and  put  into  bed ;  but 
the  eftect  of  the  scenes  he  had  just  witnessed,  had 
such  an  effect  upon  his  brain  tliat  nothing  could 
keep  him  silent.  As  soon  as  he  was  comfortably  in 
bed  he  commenced  singing  hallelujah,  and  kept  it 
up  for  the  greater  part  of  the  night. 

Friday  was  the  last  day  of  the  meeting,  and  I  who 
had  now  firmly  resolved  to  see  it  out,  and  be  a  judge 
myself  how  far  it  was  a  work  of  the  Spirit,  went  pre- 
pared to  spend  the  day  and  night  in  the  Camp.  We 
carried  refreshments,  and  all  of  our  party  agreed  to 
keep  together ;  and  to  ensure  our  safety,  we  contri- 
ved to  go  in  the  suite  of  an  officer  of  justice,  who  with 
his  family  had  stopped  at  the  inn  on  th»sir  way.  By 
the  way,  we  had  only  occasional  glimpses  of  him 
after  we  got  there,  for  being  employed  by  the  meet- 
ing people  to  keep  order,  he  was  obliged  to  be  on 
the  alert.  It  was  a  scene  of  dreadful  confusion  to 
get  there  in  the  first  place,  the  road  was  so  full  of 


APPENDIX.  185 

peo  pie,  the  dust  (for  the  earth  had  been  fairly  plough- 
ed up  by  the  multitude  of  feet)  blowing  and  blinding 
one;.  It  was  a  fact  that  we  not  half  the  time  could 
see  our  horses  heads,  as  we  rode  on.  In  the  Camp 
there  was  great  confusion.  The  crowd  had  very 
sensibly  augmented.  There  was  a  woman  exhor- 
ting at  the  stand,  and  one  of  our  townsmen,  whore- 
cognized  me,  and  knew  I  was  a  great  stickler  for 
women's  preaching,  immediately  came  up  and  invi- 
ted me  to  go  down  and  hear  her.  Accordingly  we 
all  went  down  to  the  stand.  A  young  female  whose 
appearance  bespoke  her  to  be  under  twenty,  was  ex- 
horting. The  first  words  we  distinguished  were 
these,  that  she  "  did  not  want  a  copper  of  their  mon- 
ey— No  I  dont  want  your  money,"  she  repeated /'not 
a  copper  of  your  money,  only  the  salvation  of  your 
souls,"  and  she  exhorted  the  "  young  Ladies  "  and 
the  dear  young  Gentlemen  "  to  repent,  with  all  the 
energy  she  was  capable  of  Now  I  who  abominate 
the  epithet  of  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  in  christian  ex- 
hortations, was  turning  off,  when  some  one  whisper- 
ed, Mrs.  T is  going  to  preach.    This  lady  whom 

I  had.  once  before  heard  upon  a  most  interesting 
occasion,  w^as  a  great  favourite  with  me,  and  I  had 
inquired  several  times  if  she  was  there.  I  therefore 
took  my  station  on  a  locr,  and  w^ith  my  companions 
heard  her  discourse.  The  woman  speaking  was  of 
very  mild  and  pleasing  manners — a  woman  of  plain 
good  sense,  and  exceedingly  graceful  and  winning^ 
in  her  manner,  when  speaking  in  a  house  where  her 
voice  could  be  heard  without  exertion  ;  but  although 
her  discourse  which  was  short,  was  now,  as  it  always 
-was,  good,  yet  the  evidently  great  exertion  she  now 
used,  destroyed  much  of  its  effect  with  most  of  the 
hearers ;  the  blood  looked  as  though  it  would  burst 


184  APPENDIX.  '  X 

through  her  face,  the  veins  of  her  forehead  and  tem>- 
pies  as  well  as  those  of  her  neck,  "  swelled  up  like 
whip  chords,"  and  her  mouth,  usually  of  sweet  and 
placid  expression,  from  her  efforts  to  speak  loud^ 
was  absolutely  disfigured. 

"  Is  this  the  Mrs.  T /'  whispered  one  to  me, 

1  have  heard  you  praise  so  much  ?  Why,  I  never  wit- 
nessed   such    contortions   of  countenance   before. 
Such  remarks  proved  the  woman  in  my  mind  to  be 
out  of  her  place,  for  I  had  no  doubt  her  discourse 
was  better  than  any  that  had  been  heard  there,  but 
the  crreat  effort  of  retainincr  such  a  masculine  atti- 
tude  entirely  destroyed  the  effect.  She  was  succeed- 
ed by  a  very  bold  and  uncouth  looking  young  female, 
whose  lansjuaffe  was  as  coarse  as  her  look  and  man- 
Her.     She  called  upon  the  people  loudly  to  repent 
"  to-day  and  save  their  souls."     Some  very  singular 
expression  she  made  use  of  appeared  to  have  an  irre- 
sistible effect  upon  a  part  of  her  auditors,  who  laugh- 
ed aloud ;  upon   which   she   said  she   "  did'nt  care 
who  laughed,  she  cared  for  nobody  not  a  snap  of  her 
.finger,  (snapping  her  fingers  in  great  style.)    Ano- 
ther loud   laugh.     My  faith  in  woman's  preaching 
began  to  v/aver,  and  I  was  glad  to  walk  off.     Wo 
observed  an  African  upon  a  stump  at  some  distance, 
near  the  upper  part  of  the  camp,  collecting  a  great 
crowd  around  him,  who  were  listening  with  open 
ears  and  gaping  mouths.     Some  were  wiping  their 
eyes,  many  siiouting,  and  others  grinning.     Thither 
then  we  bent  our  course,  willino-  to  hear  the  truth 
from  whatever  quarter  it  might  proceed.     The  first 
words  that  met  my  ear  were — "  Deble  fader  of  Jies  ; 
he  be  liar  from  beginnin.     Some  say  pool  niger  hab 
no  shoule.     Vel  dat  I  dont  know,  but  dis  I  know,  I 
got  something  in  my  body  make  me  feel  turnk'^table, 


APPENDIX.  185 

(clapping  his  hands  vehemently  upon  his  huge 
chest).  A  peal  of  laughter,  long  and  loud  from  the 
profane  rabble,  was  the  response.  While  notiiing 
daunted  he  continued  to  go  on  in  the  same  strain, 
not  in  the  least  interrupted  or  annoyed  by  the  con- 
tinued shouts  of  the  mob,  who,  clapping  tlieir  hands, 
kept  crying,  "go  on  brother,  that's  your  sort,  glory, 
hallelujah,"  6lc.  with  all  such  sort  of  encouragement. 
I  need  not  say  we  did  not  stay  there  long ;  and  as 
no  interesting  preacher  now  occupied  the  stand,  we 
^resolved  to  stroll  round  and  look  up  some  of  our 
friends  from  the  neighboring  tov/ns,  many  of  whom 
:^ve  doubted  not  were  there.  In  passing  one  of  the 
tents  we  could  not  forbear  stopping  to  look  at  a 
young  woman  reclining  on  the  straw  in  a  very  lan- 
guishing attitude,  and  apparently  quite  helpless  :  two 
or  three  young  men  had  seated  themselves  near  her 
and  were  enquiring  how  she  felt  ?  Upon  closely  ob- 
serving her  I  discovered  she  was  the  same  young 
woman  whose  disordered  appearance  and  extraordi- 
nary beauty  had  struck  me  so  forcibly,  and  invited 
so  much  observation  a  {ew  day  before.  It  was  she, 
but  oh  how  changed  !  even  in  the  brief  space  of  time 
tliat  had  intervened  since  w^e  saw  her  before.  Her 
bloom  was  entirely  gone,  and  her  haggard  look  and 
tangled  hair  gave  her  the  appearance  of  something 
that  had  recently  escaped  from  a  mad  house.  I  shud- 
dered with  horror,  and  thought  oh!  if  you  were  a  sister 
or  dau;^hter  of  mine  how  should  I  feci.  Kumanity 
towards  the  poor  victim,  induced  me  to  draw  near 
and  ask  her  if  she  had  no  mother  to  take  care  of 
her  ?  She  turned  a  look  of  scorn  and  anger  upon 
me,  and  then  exchanged  a  look  Avith  each  of  the 
young  men,  and  they  all  three  laughed,  and  I  walk- 
ed,offconvinced  I  had  been  mistaken.  I  afterwards 


186  APPENDIX. 

mentioned  the  ease  of  this  young  woman  to  son  tec^ 
the  persons  on  the  ground,  who  undertook  to  exp  >}am ' 
to  me  her  situation  by  telling  me  she  had  just  c  ome 
to.    Their  language  I  have  forgotten,  but  I  under-- 
stood  it  to  mean  that  she  had  gone  through  a  pro'Cess"' 
which  they  considered   as  perfecting  the  work  of' 
«anctification,  and   I  afterwards  was  told  by  some-^ 
people  at  the  house,  that  she  was  probably  the  same  ; 
young  woman  who  had  lain  two  full  days  in  a  state 
of  stupor,  an  unusual  long  time,  and  that  it  was  pos- 
sible her  intellects  might  be  affected.     Be  that  as  it 
might,  the  image  of  the  fair  sinner,  or  saint  (for  she 
was  no   half  way  character)  haunted   me  for  some 
time.      We    afterwards   looked    into    another   tent 
where  we  saw  a  girl  from  our  own  immediate  neigh- 
borhood, in  much  the  same  situation,  having  just  re- 
covered from  a  state  of  torpor,   and  rejoicing  with 
great  appearance  of  happiness.     My  heart  sickened 
at  the  sight  of  her,  for  I  believed  her  a  most  accom- 
plished hypocrite,  and  the  end  justified  my  suspic- 
ions.    In  the  course  of  a  few  months  she  destroyed 
the  peace   effectually  of  a  worthy   family,  who  had 
taken  her  from  a  state  of  great  poverty  several  years 
before,  and  cherished  her  with  all  the  tenderness  of 
parents.     She  had  previous  to  this  been  a  Baptist  by 
profession,  but  after  this  attached  herself  to  the  peo- 
ple through  whose  ministry  she  professed  to  have 
been  recovered  from  her  backslidings,  and  continued 
with  their  society  until  put  out  of  all  society. 

Being  exceedingly  fatigued  we  were  now  obliged 
to  give  up  our  plan  of  remaining  in  the  Camp  ;  the 
wagon  in  which  we  came  having  arrived  with  some 
other  persons,  we  concluded  to  go  home  and  recruit 
before  the  services  of  the  evening.  The  ride  home 
was  no  more  annoying  than  when  we  came;  a  certaini 


APPENDIX.  187 

sharp-looking  set  of  fellows  seemed  to  be  prowling- 
about  the  woods,  and  dodging  at  every  corner — 
whose  very  look  was  sufficient  almost  to  curdle 
one's  blood,  but  it  was  now  so  generally  understood 
that  the  camp  was  protected  by  the  officers  of  justice 
that  none  dared  to  show  their  colors. 

Before  it  was  quite  dark  we  returned,  and  by  the 
time  we  arrived,  the   camp    was    lighted.     I  could 
easily  imagine  that  embellishment  added  much  to  the 
scene.    The  disposal  of  the  lights  which  exhibited  so 
many  different  groups,  and  displayed  the  parapher- 
nalia of  the  tents  with  such  a  different  aspect  from 
what  it  appeared  in  the  glare  of  day,  was  altogether 
imposing,  or  rather  witching.     For  a  time  we  walk- 
ed, until  our  protectors  returned  to  the  inn  to  take 
back  the  conveyance.     We  avowed  our  determina- 
Jtion  to  pass  the  night  in  the  Camp  ;  the  gentlemen 
Te.monstrated,   urged  the   fatigue,   the  exposure  to 
liea'th,  the  danger,  unless  we  kept  close  under  the 
wing  of  som.e  person  or  persons  able  to  protect  us — 
but  all    to    no  purpose,  we  determined  to   remain. 
They  promised  to  return  and  stay  until  ten  or  eleven 
o^clock,  and  then  they  said  we  must  take  care  of 
ourselves;   and   leading  us  to  one  of  the  seats  at  the 
aipper  end  of  the  ground,  departed.  There  were  four 
of  us,  nevertheless  we  experienced  some  little  sinking 
of  heart  when  we  saw  our  protectors  depart.     From 
the  place    where    we   sat    we   could  see  the  v.'hole 
ground  ;   there  was  a  preacher  on  the  stump  speak- 
ing  loudly  and  vehemently;   a  black  man  also  on 
the    stand,  and  noboL\v  attendng  to  either  ;  the  noise 
could  not  have  been  exceeded  by  the  confusion  of 
Babel.     I  could  not  compose  ray  mind  to  realize  it 
was  a  place  of  worship,  although  the  songs  of  praise 
and  the  voice  of  exhortation  mingled  with  the  groans 

0 


188  APPENDIX. 

of  despair,  and  blending  in  strange  confusion  with 
the  various  dialogues  going  on,  rose  each  moment  on 
the  ear.  Prayer  meetings  had  commenced  in  the 
different  tents,  yet  there  was  a  continual  travelling 
from  place  to  place — nobody  except  the  immediate 
actors  in  the  scene  seemed  stationary  for  a  moment 
at  a  timej  crowds  of  people  passing  and  repassing  all 
the  time.  One  woman  flew  past,  throwing  her 
arms  abroad,  and  shouting  "  there  are  grapes  here 
and  they  are  good,  heavenly  times!  heavenly  times!" 
A  few  moments  after  our  ears  were  assailed  with 
the  most  piercing  shrieks  of  a  female  voice,  which 
proceeded  from  behind  one  of  tlie  neighboring  tents. 
Two  of  us  sprang  up  and  almost  involuntarily  ran  to 
the  place — the  other  two  rather  hung  back  as  they 
afterwards  told  us  from  fear,  thinking  it  might  be 
some  one  murdered,  or  some  terrible  assault,  a  few 
moments  brought  us  to  the  spot,  and  beheld  two 
young  women  stretched  upon  the  ground,  no  human 
creature  touching  them,  screaming  with  all  their 
strength.  Some  females  from  the  neighboring  tents 
rushed  out  to  them,  and  sinking  down  by  their  side, 
began  to  talk  to  them  all  at  once.  "  Sink  right  into 
Jesus  said  one,  and  you  will  he  happy  in  a  minute." 
I  enquired  of  an  old  lady  standing  by  what  the  mat- 
ter was '?  she  said  they  were  slain,  snd  there  was  a 
great  many  slain  there  every  night.  Several  persons 
now  raised  them  to  carry  them  into  the  tent,  and  we 
in  a  whisper  agreed  to  follow  close  in  the  rear,  which 
by  keeping  hold  of  each  other's  clothes  and  following 
close  upon  the  heels  of  those  who  had  borne  in  the 
slain,  we  succeeded  in  getting  into  the  centre  of  the 
tent,  where,  within  a  circle  formed  by  the  meeting 
they  were  laid  upon  the  straw.  They,  the  meeting: 
people,  were  singing  a  hymn,  which  rose  to  deafen- 


APPENDIX.  189 

ing  uproar  upon  our  approach.  After  the  hymn,  the 
women  commenced  praying  over  them,  using  many 
strange  expressions  and  the  most  violent  gesticula- 
tion, the  power  of  uhich  was  acknowledged  by  many 
a  groan,  shout,  and  interjection,  intermingled  with 
the  agonizing  shrieks  of  the  slain,  which  still  con- 
tinued. 

The  loud  Amen,  the  cries  for  mercy,  the  groans 
of  distress,  (either  real  or  imaginary)  resounded 
from  every  quarter,  while  the  triumphant  exclama- 
tions of  those  who  shouted  "I'm  full — I'm  running 
over — I'm  eating  heavenly  manna — glory  !  hallelu- 
jah !  "  &/C.  &bc.  were  as  distinctly  heard  :  and  this^ 
this  scene  of  discordant  noise  and  unseemly  riot  (as 
it  appeared  to  me)  was  what  they  called  "  the  power 
of  God."  Forgive,  thou  insulted  Being,  the  use  I 
am  here  obliged  to  make  of  thy  great  and  dreadful 
name  !  Occasionally  some  of  the  young  men  who 
were  within  the  circle  ^vould  draw^  near  the  young 
women,  whose  shrieks  gradually  changed  to  groans, 
and  ask,  in  a  low  voice^  "  do  you  feel  any  better  ?" 
I  could  not  hear  that  they  made  any  ansv/er.  One 
young  man,  while  the  prayer  was  going  on,  began 
to  shake  violently,  and  then  falling  flat  upon  the 
straw,  exclaimed  "  God,  I'm  willing — I  will  own 
my  Saviour — I  will,  I  will :  "  at  the  same  time,  his 
feet  kicking  at  such  a  rate,  that  the  dust  from  the 
straw  nearly  suffocated  us  all.  His  feet  chancing  to 
lodge,  in  his  fall,  just  between  me  and  another 
young  lady,  we  endured  no  small  share  of  incon- 
venience. The  young  lady  actually  received  seve- 
ral smart  blows;  when  a.  man  leaning  over  our 
heads  (we  were  seated  on  a  bench)  put  his  cane 
over  and  fenced  his  feet  from  her,  by  planting  it 
firmly  in  the  ground. 


190  APPENDIX. 

A  few  people  from  our  town  sat  near,  and,  as  I 
thought,  seemed  to  survey  the  scene  with  mournful 
interest;  at  least  they  exhibited  none  of  the  anima- 
'tion  1  have  described.  "Lord,"  said  one  of  the 
v/oraen  in  prayer,  "  w^hat  ails  the  Providence  people  ?" 
One  young  woman  uttered  a  sentence  in  prayer  that 
seemed  to  fill  the  audience  with  inexpressible  de- 
light. It  was  in  allusion  to  a  sentence  in  the  sister's 
prayer  that  spoke  before,  wherein  she  asked  for  the 
crumbs  that  fell  from  her  master's  table.  "  Give  us," 
said  the  last  one,  "  not  only  crumbs,  but  loaves,  good 
Ood  !"  and  slapping  her  hands  with  great  violence. 
The  effect  was  electric,  the  Amen  was  echoed  in 
all  the  different  notes  of  the  gamut,  while  the  ex- 
pressions of"  Come  Lord  Jesus,  come  quickly,"  were 
heard  from  different  parts  of  the  tent.  My  soul  was 
momently  shocked  by  those  familiar  addresses  to 
the  Deity,  "God,  come  down  here — Jesus  come 
this  minute — we  want  you  to-night — we  want  you 
now,"  &c.  &LC.  &c.  The  din  and  confusion  in- 
creased every  moment.  Stamping,  slapping  hands, 
and  knocking  fists  together,  formed  altogether  a 
scene  of  confusion  that  beggars  description,  and  re- 
ally terrified  us.  We  looked  at  each  other  in  des- 
pair, and  then  at  the  door,  which  was  completely 
Avedged  up  with  faces,  one  above  another  ;  no  way 
to  get  out,  and  no  one  to  help  us ;  when  fortunately 
the  uncle  of  two  of  the  young  ladies,  (who  had  re- 
turned to  the  Camp  on  foot,  after  putting  up  his 
horses,  and  who  was  now  standing  at  the  door  of 
the  tent,)  descried  us,  and  in  a  moment  compre- 
hending our  distress,  opened  a  passage  to  the  circle, 
by  saying  "a  lady  faint!  a  lady  faint!"  which  was 
echoed  by  several,  either  to  aid  in  getting  her  out, 
or  to  increase  the  confusion,  and  thus   we  escaped 


APPENDIX.  191 

from  the  crowd.  There  was  now  a  general  begging 
among  us  to  return  home ;  but  the  uncle  protested 
there  was  no  way  at  present,  and  we  must  stay  all 
night  where  we  were.  However,  as  we  begged  so 
hard,  he  despatched  a  man  round  the  barriers  to  see 
if  any  carriage  or  wagon  could  be  procured.  While 
search  was  making,  he  advised  us  to  walk  around 
the  ground ;  as  hundreds,  probably  thousands,  were 
then  doing,  thinking  we  should  be  safer  to  be  moving 
with  the  crowd,  than  to  sit  down  any  where  outside 
the  tents.  As  we  passed  one  of  the  tents,  where  the 
confusion  could  only  be  equalled  by  the  one  we  had 
left,  we  distinguished  in  prayer  that  remarkable  sen- 
tence, "  the  Lord  is  in  his  holy  temple  :  let  all  the 
earth  keep  silence  before  him."  What  a  place  for 
its  repetition  !  !  One  young  man  began  to  pray,  who 
got  so  animated  that  he  kept  asking  to  die  :  exclaim- 
ing, "Lord,  I  want  to  die.  I'm  ready  to  die  and 
fit  to  die,  and  Lord,  I  want  to  die  to-night."  Loud 
shouting  and  clapping  of  hands  followed. 

We  now  passed  a  tent  entirely  closed,  fastened 
down,  and  dreadful  groans  within:  they  appeared  to 
proceed  from  one  voice,  and  that  of  a  woman,  and 
evidently  betokened  great  bodily  distress.  One  of 
the  gentlemen  just  behind  us  said  he  was  determin- 
ed to  see  what  was  the  distress,  and  began  unfasten- 
ing the  curtains  :  we  had  been  forbidden  to  raise  it, 
by  a  brother  who  stood  outside,  but  after  the  young 
man  had  got  it  part  way  up,  a  minister  from  within 
called  out  "  come  in  and  see  the  power  of  God." 
Thus  invited  we  entered,  and  behold,  a  young  wo- 
man laying  flat  upon  the  straw,  in  great  apparent 
agony,  calling  in  frantic  terms  for  the  coming  of  the 
''  Holy  Ghost."  I  saw  no  other  inmate  of  the  room, 
except  the  minister   just  mentioned,  but  upon  our 

0* 


1 92  APPENDIX. 

coming  out,  several  methodists  passed  in,  and  we 
heard  them  a  moment  after  singing  around  this  dis- 
tressed creature,  "  Die  in  the  arms  of  Jesus,  Die  in 
the  arms  of  Jesus  &c."  That  woman  had  every 
appearance  of  being  in  strong  hysterics. 

We  had  just  met  with  a  party  of  friends  from  the 
village  of  C v/ho  learning  our  distress,  kindly  of- 
fered a  seat  for  me  to  return  with  them  to  the  inn, 
where  they  were  to  pass.  It  was  now  eleven  o'clock, 
and  my  companions  consented  I  should  leave  them 
upon  the  promise  that  I  would  not  rest  until  I  had 
found  some  wagon  or  carriage  of  some  kind  to  come 
after  them  :  while  passing  to  the  barrier  where  the 
wagons  were  stationed,  we  passed  a  tent  where  a 
young  female,  apparently  quite  gone,  was  supported 
in  the  arms  of  a  worthless  fellow,  who  had  lately 
gone  from  our  neighbourhood,  no  one  knew  whith- 
er :  they  were  just  without  the  tent  door,  and  he  was 
trying  to  bear  her  in.  A  fear  for  the  safety  of  the 
girl  induced  me  to  ask  some  one  near  to  rescue  her, 
which  they  attempted,  when  out  burst  two  or  three 
men  to  the  relief  of  their  brother,  as  they  called 
him,  and  forbade  any  interference.* 

*  I  lonrned  aftorwanls  that  this  vouriCT  man  vent  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  camp,  with  a  small  bundle,  into  one  of  the  tents,  and 
there  continued  throun'.i  the  whole  meetings.  This  singnlar  char- 
acter was  once  a  reg^'dar  member  of  a. church  (not  Methodist)  in 
P.  and  was  thought  too  simple  to  be  set  aside,  though  known  to 
be  a  most  inveterate  liar.  On  one  occasion,  while  travelling 
through  the  country,  he  passed  himself  ofl"  us  the  grandson  of  a  ven- 
erable clerg}man  of  fho  Episcopal  Church,  woll  known  in  that 
vicinity,  and  was  entertained  at  the  tables  of  some  of  the  most 
respectable  people  in  the  town — invited  to  read  prayers  in  the 
church,  as  he  professed  to  be  a  candidate  for  the  ministry.  This 
he  did,  and  escaped  undiscovered,  lie  then  proceeded  to  one  of 
rur  western  settlements,  where,  chancing  to  hear  some  inquiry 
made  respecting  a  good  old  lady  in  his  town,  lately  deceased,  he 
told  them  she  had  left  an  immense  fortur.9,  which  she  amassed  by 


APPENDIX.  193 

We  felt  rejoiced  that  this  was  the  last  night  of 
the  meeting,  for  the  camp  began  to  smell  very  offen- 
sive. Many  were  remarking  that  the  danger  to 
health  would  be  very  great  should  the  meetings  con- 
tinue twenty-four  hours  longer.  The  people  who 
conveyed  me  out,  got  along  very  well,  through  a 
road  used  for  a  cart  path,  and  which  appeared  much 
more  safe  and  quiet  than  the  great  entrance.  We 
saw  a  good  deal  of  dodging  about,  though  upon 
comparing  notes  with  others  I  discovered  1  was  not 
solitary  in  hearing  and  seeing  strange  things.  One 
lady  who  had  been  invited  to  drink  tea  in  one  of 
the  tents,  observed  she  had  been  much  shocked  by 
a  man  coming  in  and  inviting  her  to  stay  the  even- 
ing. He  went  in  shaking  violently  and  saying  *'  we 
shall  have  the  Holy  Ghost  here  to-night !"  and  said 
a  little  niece  of  hers  who  stood  by,  "do  stay  aunt 
Polly,  for  I  want  to  see  him."  These  kind  of  an- 
ecdotes were  long  rehearsed,  but  I  met  with  no  sol- 
itary being  who  appeared  to  have  got  any  good  by 
going.  Heaven  grant  there  might  have  been  some. 
With  a  great  deal  of  difficulty  I  persuaded  a  man  to 
go  down  with  a  carriage  for  the  other  ladies.  At 
last,  after  finding  two  men  to  go  and  assist  him,  he 
went.  He  said  there  had  been  one  carriage  just 
before  which  had  all  the  harness  cut  off  of  it  at  the 
entrance  of  the  wood.  I  could  not  rest  until  the 
whole  company  were  safely  housed.  They  return- 
ed about  one  o'clock  in  the  morning.     The  inhab- 

kecping  a  hotel.  This  family,  who  chanced  to  be  heirs  at  law, 
entertained  him  with  cordial  welcome,  and  actually  came  a  jour- 
ney of  many  hundred  miles  to  claim  the  property,  and  found  the 
whole  a  falsehood.  The  author  of  that  story,  and  of  many  other 
similar  deceptions,  is  among  the  Shaking  Quakers  in  New-Leba- 
non, where  he  has  at  last,  as  he  saye,  "  made  liis  principles  bend 
to  his  temporal  interests." 


194  APPENDIX. 

itants  of  the  neighbourhood  long  had  cause  to  re- 
member that  meeting.  The  effects  of  it  were  dis- 
tinctly visible.  Fences  torn  to  pieces,  and  fields  of 
grain  wantonly  trod  down  and  destroyed,  with  other 
excesses,  absurd  and  unnecessary,  bear  witness  to 
the  little  reformation  in  morals  the  meeting  had  oc- 
casioned ;  but  over  and  above  all,  the  haggard  and 
jaded  looks  of  those  people,  when  they  commenced 
their  homeward  march  on  the  following  day.  A 
rain,  the  first  the  earth  had  been  blest  with  for  some 
time,  fell  on  that  day,  and  many  of  them  must  have 
been  caught  v/ithout  a  shelter — some  with  little  in- 
fants in  their  arms.  One  I  saw  at  the  camp  which 
the  mother  told  me  was  three  weeks  old  ! 

It  must  be  obvious  to  every  person,  of  common 
sense,  that  if  camp  meetings  exhibit  such  scenes  to 
moral  persons,  to  those  who  penetrate  the  recesses 
in  their  neighbourhood  the  view  must  be  still  more 
revolting.  Stories  have  been  told  and  still  are,  that 
almost  stagger  credulity  itself,  and  they  carry  with 
them  this  proof  of  their  authenticity,  that  the  most 
depraved  and  abandoned  of  the  human  species,  are 
always  fond  of  resorting  to  them.  If  the  writer  of 
this  true  sketch  can  be  a  means  of  opening  the  eyes 
of  any  well  disposed  persons,  who  have  hitherto  been 
disposed  to  uphold  them,  it  will  be  a  source  of  las- 
ting satisfaction,  and  a  full  reward  for  all  the  re- 
sentment which  ignorance  and  fanaticism  may 
award. 


Observations  on  the  foregoing  Narrative. 

Upon  looking  over  the  preceding  pages  the  author 
has  not  been  able  to  discover  any  mistakes,  though 
there  are  many  things  which  may  be  liable  to  misin- 
terpretation, and  some  things  omitted  which  the 
limits  of  the  book  would  not  permit  her  to  discusss. 
Of  the  first  of  these,  the  reflection  upon  spreading 
the  report  in  Providence,  which  proved  so  disastrous 
in  the  after  life  of  Miss  Cornell,  is  not  meant  to  be 
attributed  to  the  merchants  spoken  of — the  scandal 
we  know  was  transmitted  to  the  public  through  other 
organs.  And  with  respect  to  the  letter  from  Bristol 
to  one  of  the  witnesses,  containing  three  dollars, 
and  which  is  said  to  be  the  sum  actually  due  her, 
dating  from  the  time  she  was  summoned,  it  is  due 
that  witness  to  state,  that  in  her  narration  to  the 
author  of  this,  she  did  not  say  it  was  not  due  her, 
because  she  was  totally  ignorant  on  that  head,  but 
she  expressed  some  surprise  that  they  should  have 
**  left  it  until  after  Avery  was  taken  again"— partic- 
ularly as  no  recompense  had  been  tendered  her  for 
her  attendance  at  Newport  where  she  had  been 
**  summoned  by  the  prisoner  and  detained  much 
longer." 

There  is  one  subject  upon  which  we  wished  large- 
ly to  have  descanted  in  this  work,  but  upon  which  a 
few  words  must  suffice  :  that  is,  the  great  injury  and 
injustice  which  the  publication  of  the  life  and  char- 
acter of  Sarah  M.  Cornell,  has  done  to  that  class  of 
young  women  whose  lot  in  life  has  compelled  them 
to  labor  in  a  manufactory.  Many  have  taken  the 
Jiberty  to  say  that  if  all  those  disgusting  particular 


196  OBSERVATIONS. 

were  true,  it  proved  to  demonstration  that  *'vice  was 
not  regarded  among  that  portion  of  society  as  it  was 
in  any  other  community  ;  that  there  was  little  regard 
to  morals   among  them,   or  that   persons  could  not 
have  been  tolerated  and  associated  with  as  we  know 
she  was — and  finally  that  it  ought  to  be  a  warning 
to  parents  not  to  let  a  daughter  go  to  those  places, 
which  was  going  to  certain  ruin."     Now  nothing 
can  be  more  unjust  than  this.     There  is  no  person 
who  deprecates  the  practice  of  sending  little  chil- 
dren into  a  cotton  manufactory  more  than  the  author ; 
she  avers  with  truth  that  she  has  often  been  affect- 
ed   to  tears   at  the   sight  of  the  little   innocents, 
compelled  to  leave  their  beds  before   the  rising  of 
the  sun  and  labor  until  long  after  its  going  down  in 
those  establishments,   and  that  perhaps  to  support 
some  idle,  drunken    father,  or  miserable,  unfeeling 
mother ;    but   when  she   has   again   seen   healthy, 
sprightly  and  well  educated  girls,  laboring  to  assist 
some  widowed  mother,  or  to  give  education  to  some 
half  dozen  little  brothers  and   sisters,  her  feelings 
have  received  a  diiferent  impulse.     There  is  no  way 
that  grown  up  girls  in  the  present  state  of  society 
can  get  better  wages — nor  where  their  payment  is 
so  sure.     And  the  privilege  of  working  in  manufac- 
tories to  such  is  a  great  one.     That  these  girls  are 
careless  of  their  conduct  or  their  company  is  scarce 
ever  the  case — and  the  author  has  known  numbers 
despised  and  shunned,  and  hunted  from  the  manu- 
facturing villages,  upon  a  charge  of  a  much  less  se- 
rious nature  than  any  of  those  brought  against  S.  M. 
Cornell,  that  is,  where  they  had  no  meeting  to  shel- 
ter them — where  backslidings  and  recoveries,  expul- 
sion and  reinstation,  were  a  common  thing.   In  such 
a  case  perhaps  it  might  not  be    known  out  of  the 

\ 


OBSERVATIONS.  I9T 

meeting.  Why,  ifit  were  publicly  known,  as  it  ouglit 
to  be,  a  girl  guilty  of  halt' the  offences  she  is  charg- 
ed with,  in  the  state  of  Massachusetts  or  Connecti- 
cut, would  at  once  find  herself  in  the  House  of  Cor- 
rection. 

The  publication  of  this  matter  however  has  had 
one  good  tendency  which  is  obvious.  It  has  gen- 
erated a  suspicion  of  those  noisy,  ranting  professors, 
who  go  about  interrogating  every  one  they  meet,  to 
know  "  if  they  love  the  Lord  ?  if  they  enjoy  relig- 
ion ?  if  they  are  not  ashamed  of  Jesus?"  dsc.  &lc. 
which  none  but  grossly  ignorant  or  hypocritical  peo- 
ple ever  think  of  asking.  We  hope  and  trust  it  has 
not  lessened  the  respect  felt  for  those  modest,  prac- 
tical and  retiring  christians,  who  mind  their  own 
concerns,  and  pursue  the  even  tenor  of  their  way, 
without  seeking  to  obtrude  themselves  or  their  re- 
ligion, except  where  propriety  sanctions,  and  princi- 
ple and  duty  authorize  them  to  do  it ;  and  these  oc- 
casions are  not  rare.  There  are  daily  and  honrlj" 
opportunities  for  the  real  christian  to  shew  forth  the 
beauties  of  holiness,  without  disgusting  people  with 
impertinent  interrogations,  discovering  an  impu- 
dence and  boldness  inconsistent  with  thsir  sex  and 
professions. 

Since  writing  this  book  we  observe  there  has  been 
a  great  hue  and  cry  among  a  certain  class — that 
religion  was  in  danger  from  dwelling  upon  this  sub- 
ject— that  it  was  better  to  have  it  smothered,  or  in 
their  language,  "  clropt,''  and  that  every  christian' 
who  lent  his  aid  to  keep  it  in  memory,  was  strength- 
ening the  hands  of  infidelity.  To  such  we  would 
say,  we  view  the  subject  in  a  very  different  light, 
^d  we  consider  it  as  a  very  suspicious  circumstance 

professors  or  ministers  of  the   gospel   vvhen  they 


198  OBSERVATIONS. 

wish   to   smother    "spiritual   wickedness   in    high 
places."     We  firmly   believe  that  religion  is  not  so 
inseparably  connected  with  E.  K.  Avery,  so  identi 
fied  with   him,  that  it  must  rise  or  fall  with  him,  o 
indeed  with  any  other  preacher.     We  have   alway 
believed  that  the  existence  of  counterfeits,  was  itsel 
a  proof  there  was  real  coin  somewhere,   and  have 
been  accustomed  to  consider  the  Christian  Church 
as  a  net  cast  into  the  sea  which  gathered  fish  of  ev- 
ery kind,   both  bad   and  good.     Our  Bibles  tell  us 
*Uhere  will  be  deceivers  in  the  last  days."     We 
consider  the  scripture  as  fulfilling,  and  that  these 
enormities  being  foretold  and   now   accomplishing, 
proves  them  true  ;  but  we   are  not  warned  to  spare 
such  offenders  because  of  their  professions,   but  on 
the  contrary,   "  that  judgment  must  first  begin  at 
the  house  of  God."    And  we  believe  whoever  is  able 
to  assist  in  this  and  in  pointing  out  the  difference 
between  true  and  false  religion,  is  doing  society  anci 
religion  itself  a  great  service;  and  though  men  may 
mistake  our  motives,  we  can  appeal  to  the  Searcher 
,of  all  hearts  for  the  purity  of  them,  and  we  look  with 
ihope  and  confidence  for  his  approbation  at  the  resur* 
-^•ection  of  the  just. 


0 


University  of 
Connecticut 

Libraries 


39153027496514 


